


The Fourth Experiment

by imaginary_shadow



Category: Shadowhunters (TV), The Shadowhunter Chronicles - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Shadow World Setting (Shadowhunter Chronicles), Angst, Brother/Brother Incest, Character Death, Cheating, Eventual Romance, F/F, Forbidden Love, Gen, Heartbreak, Incest, Lesbian Character, M/M, Male Slash, Romance, Smut, Tragedy, Violence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-31
Updated: 2020-04-28
Packaged: 2021-02-27 12:34:30
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 43,454
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22487188
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/imaginary_shadow/pseuds/imaginary_shadow
Summary: Jonathan was injected with demon blood, Jace with angel blood. Along with Clary, the three of them were Valentine's experiments. However, there was a fourth one. One that got away. One that escaped the evil clutches of the Circle. Valentine had no hope of ever finding his fourth experiment that is until he heard of a boy whose blood could kill demons. Valentine would do anything to get his hands on him. Will the Shadowhunters be able to protect the boy along with the mortal instruments? Will love blossom in such perilous times?Alec Lightwood had a feeling that the entry of Clary Fairchild and Chace Williams is gonna turn everything upside down for the Shadow world. Unfortunately, his gut feeling is rarely wrong. Still he'd do anything to protect them, specially the blue eyed pretty boy.WARNING: Non-malec, violence, forbidden love, mxm and fxf relationship, incest, smut, character death etc.
Relationships: Alec Lightwood/Original Male Character(s)
Comments: 5
Kudos: 40





	1. Beginning Of An Epic Adventure

**Author's Note:**

> AN: It's been a long time since I wrote a story. Entering the 'real world' forced me to take a long break from the writer me. But watching the show Shadowhunters has inspired me to write again. I don't know how often I'd be able to update but I've a story outline in my mind so I'll try to finish it. As for the story, there are several WARNINGS for this one.
> 
> First of all it's non-malec. As much as I love the pair, but they are already a canon and got a perfect story line in the show. And there's very little Alec x OC stories out there, hence me writing one. There's also violence, character death, smut, mxm, gxg relationship and incest in this story. If you're uncomfortable with them, then this story is not for you.
> 
> Those who still wish to give this story a shot, thank you in advance. Hope you enjoy it!

**Chapter 1: Beginning Of An Epic Adventure**

Life isn't fair. Many would agree with that. One moment everything is normal and the next, all is destroyed. Sometimes things happen in one's life that they never expect to happen. There is nothing a person can do to save oneself from the suffering. Chace Williams' life had turned upside down within a single night. Everything changed for the worst. And there was nothing he could do about it. If he had anything in his hands, he certainly wouldn't be sitting in a plane and moving from London to New York. Permanently.

It had been a long flight. Thankfully an announcement was made to inform the passengers that the plane would be landing soon. Unlike all the other passengers who were eager to get off the plane, Chace Williams, a seventeen year old young man wanted the plane to never land. In fact if it were up to him, he would have taken a flight back to London as soon as he got off the plane. Needless to say, Chace didn't want to come to New York. Not when he needed to go to high school in a stranger city in order to finish his senior year. Not to mention, all his friends and people he knew, basically his entire life was back in London. New York would never be his home no matter how many years he stayed here. One might wonder, if Chace was so against the idea of moving then why did he come in the first place? Well that was because he had no choice but to come. In fact, he had no say in this plan of moving from one country to another at all. Apparently problematic situation such as this arises when someone's parents get separated.

Chace grew up in a loving household. Although unlike most kids, he didn't grow up with a mom and a dad. Instead he had two moms and they both loved him to death. He was their source of joy and happiness. Chace knew he wasn't actually their biological son. Lindsey and Rosalie had adopted him when he was just an infant from an orphanage. Apparently Chace's birth mother had died and there was no other relative to take care of him. No one knew who the father was. Chace didn't want anything to do with his biological parents. He didn't even want to know who they were. For him Lindsey and Rosalie were his parents and that was that. For sixteen years, Chace lived a happy, normal life with regular everyday problems that every family had now and then. But one cursed day, everything turned upside down. No one saw it coming, especially Chace. Lindsey found out that Rosalie was cheating on her.

It was extremely hard to believe since Lindsey and Rosalie were the most perfect couple. They loved each other so much. They were both mature and had been together since their high school days. They went through so many hardships just to be together, just to be with each other. Rosalie's family was extremely religious and they would not accept her relationship with Lindsey. She tried a lot to make them accept their relation. Both of them tried their best. But they failed to persuade the family. It was hard for Rosalie. She had to cut off all her ties with her family in order to be with Lindsey. That's why for her to cheat on the love of her life was shocking and unbelievable for everyone who knew them.

Rosalie's only explanation was that she made a mistake. That whoever this home wrecker Olivia was had a strange allure to her that Rosalie just could not resist. She just couldn't fight the attraction. Rosalie kept going back to her even though each time she promised herself that she'd stop. That she would not cheat on Lindsey and hurt her like this. But she just could not stop. Obviously, no one was sympathetic towards Rosalie. No one tried to understand her reasons. She cheated on her wife, spat on the relationship that was supposed to last till their last breaths. There was no giving her a second chance. Or forgiving her for that matter.

Lindsey was completely heartbroken. So much so that she couldn't even bear to live in London anymore. Lindsey was originally from the states, so she decided to come back here, in New York. Chace knew she simply wanted to get as far away from Rosalie was possible. A new start back in her homeland was something she needed very badly in order to deal with her heartbreak. Lindsey had filed for divorce but it would take some time for it to finalize. Chace knew Rosalie very much wanted to make amends. She had begged for a second chance. But it wasn't Chace's to give. Besides, it would be a lie to say that Chace wasn't disappointed in his mom Rosalie. She had just broken their family over a fling. Therefore, when Lindsey decided to move to New York, and asked Chace to come along with her, he agreed despite the fact he had no desire to leave London- his home behind. Lindsey needed him. He was all she got at the time being. She needed him to heal her wounds. Chace knew Lindsay wouldn't be able to handle her life anymore if even he left her. Besides, after what happened, Chace knew he couldn't live with Rosalie. She had not only broken Lindsey's heart but his trust as well. His believe in love had broken into a thousand pieces because of her action.

Also, Chace had promised himself to be there for Lindsey and he was gonna stick to his promise. However, that didn't mean he could bring himself to be happy about moving to New York. Chace figured he was allowed to feel miserable, at least for a while. A hand went through Chace's soft brown locks, snapping him from his thoughts. He looked at his mom Lindsey who was giving him a love filled sympathetic look.

"I know this is hard for you Chace but we're gonna get through this. Together." Chace nodded his head, offering his mom an understanding smile.

"I know mom. It's just I wish none of this was happening. That I suddenly wake up and find that everything is back to normal. You and mama cooking in the kitchen together, mama complaining about all her clients being douche-bags and you trying to reason with her. I just, I miss mama. I miss seeing you happy together." When Chace noticed tears gathering in his mom's eyes, he stopped talking and apologized.

"Sorry. I shouldn't have said these things." Lindsey vehemently shook her head.

"No, you've nothing to apologize for honey. I miss her too despite everything that has happened." Chace pulled his mom into a hug to comfort her. Lindsey too held onto her son as if he was her life support. And at that moment, he was. The plane soon landed and before Chace knew it he was standing in front of his new home in Brooklyn. It was an apartment with two bedrooms. The place was nice, and homely. And the neighborhood seemed alright too.

"Tomorrow we're gonna go to your school first thing in the morning. It's good that you're getting to start at the beginning and not in the middle of a semester" said Lindsey.

"Yeah that'd have made the situation more awkward." Chace knew he was not gonna fit in here. First of all he was no social butterfly, and secondly, he was not interested in making friends just for the heck of it. Chace befriended someone only when he genuinely liked the person first. It was always like that with him. Hence, he only had a handful of people who he could truly call his friends. However, those few were very important to him. Saying goodbye to them had been particularly hard for Chace. Though they all promised to never leave him alone online and that they were gonna stay in touch all the time. As good as that sounded, Chace was a realist and knew that things would change no matter what. It just wouldn't remain the same anymore once some time passed.

"You will make friends here too Chace" said Lindsey heaving out a loud sigh as she witnessed the turmoil in her son's eyes.

"There must be someone in your new school who you will get along with. Stay positive honey." Chace nodded his head and leaned into his mom as she pulled him into a loving embrace.

"Besides, girls here dig English accent. You'll have girls throwing themselves at you in no time." Lindsey laughed as her son groaned hearing that.

"Oh god, please no." He said.

"Or maaaybe you'd prefer the attention of the male population." Lindsay teased her son making Chace blush bashfully.

"Mom, I already told you, I'm still figuring out what I want. Besides, with everything that has happened, figuring out my sexuality is the last thing on my mind right now."

"But it shouldn't be the last thing on your mind Chace. This is a new start for the both of us. You should focus on yourself as should I." Lindsey advised her son.

"I don't know mom. I just- I've a feeling that I'll just know when the time comes you know" said Chace, hoping that would be a satisfying enough explanation for his mom.

"Oh you mean when you meet the right person." Lindsey asked smiling at her son.

"Yeah." Chace replied shortly and left it at that. Lindsey didn't need to know that he didn't believe in true love anymore after what happened between them. If his moms could break off, then no such thing as a perfect couple existed. Chace didn't voice this as it would get his mom hurt all over again. She would somehow blame herself for ruining this for him which would've been complete nonsense. Not to mention Lindsey would try to convince Chace otherwise which was something he really didn't need at the moment.

* * *

The next day, Chace had his mom take him to the new school to complete all the formalities of getting him enrolled. Chace was handed over the class routine along with some other paperwork. He was to start classes from tomorrow. It meant, Chace had the day to himself to explore the city. He wanted to see how different Brooklyn was from his home. And also get acquainted with the city as much as possible.

Chace was walking down a busy street with his phone in his hand. He closely followed the Google map so that he wouldn't get lost. Now and then Chace stopped to take in the surrounding. However, at one point he was too focused on the map on his phone that he walked right into someone when turning a corner.

"I'm so sorry. I wasn't looking where I was going." Chace quickly apologized as he looked up at the person.

"It's alright. I wasn't looking either" said the guy who Chace had bumped into. He even offered Chace a polite smile. The guy was wearing big glasses, had messy hair, loose clothing and an unmistakable nerd vibe going on. Now, Chace had nothing against nerds. In fact one of his friends back home was a huge nerd. Theo was a comic book nerd to be specific. Thanks to him, Chace had abundant knowledge about comic books and the characters in them.

"You have an English accent. Are you new here?" The guy asked curiously.

"Yes, I am. Hence me looking at the map more than where I am going" said Chace showing the guy the map app opened on his phone.

"I'm Chace by the way." Chace extended his hand towards the guy for a shake.

"I'm Simon. It's nice to meet you" said Simon, taking Chace's hand.

"Yeah nice to meet you too" said Chace. After that an awkward silence came over them because both didn't know what else to say. Chace was the first one to break the silence.

"So, I should get going. Still need a lot of exploring to do."

"Yeah, sure, of course. Um… enjoy exploring Brooklyn" was Simon's awkward goodbye to the stranger. Chace gave him a smile and walked away. At that moment, neither of them knew that they were going to bump into each other again. Very soon.

* * *

The next time Simon and Chace met was at a diner only two days later. It was pure coincident. Chace was eating dinner there when Simon had walked in. When Simon noticed Chace, he came over and began a friendly conversation. Chace in return asked Simon to join him and the offer was immediately taken. This time, Chace and Simon talked a lot about each other. Where they were from? What they were doing in their lives? What they liked, what they didn't like. Basically they learned things that gave them a general idea about each other. But they really hit it off when they started talking about comics, TV shows and movies. Chace wasn't nearly as passionate as Simon was but Chace's ample amount of knowledge on the subject gave them a lot to talk about.

"You know we should do this again. Hang out I mean" said Simon when they were done eating.

"Yeah, I was thinking the same thing" said Chace, really meaning it. Simon was someone he saw becoming friends with easily.

"Next time, I'll introduce you to my friend Clary. She's like my best friend since childhood." The way Simon smiled at the mention of Clary's name, Chace suspected Simon had more than friendship feelings for this best friend of his. But who was he to butt into a thing that was none of his business.

"Great. My mom would be happy to hear I'm making friends so quickly" said Chace. He knew Lindsey was worried about him becoming a loner in this new city.

"Haven't you made any friends at school yet?" Simon asked curiously to which Chace shook his head.

"I mean everyone is nice and welcoming and all but I haven't made any friends yet." Simon nodded in understanding. He himself had troubles making friends his entire school life. In fact, Clary was his only true friend.

"Don't worry, making friends takes time. Besides, you've already got one friend now" said Simon, proudly pointing at himself. Chace smiled at that.

"You're right. So tell me when will I meet Clary-the best friend." He asked.

"Are you busy tomorrow?" Simon asked.

"I'm free after school" replied Chace.

"Perfect. You can come and hang out with us then. I'm playing a gig tomorrow aaandd tomorrow is also Clary's birthday. She's going to be eighteen." Hearing this, Chace hesitated.

"Are you sure Clary wouldn't mind having a stranger hangout with her best friend on her especial day? I mean we can totally meet each other another time."

"Nonsense!" Simon exclaimed out loud.

"Clary would never mind you coming to our little party. In fact she would be very happy to have you with us. As they say, the more the merrier. Besides, I'd like for you to hear my gig." Chace gave in after seeing Simon's enthusiasm.

"Well, in that case I'd love to come and join Clary's birthday celebration and hear your gig."

"That's the spirit. You'll enjoy spending time with us. At least I hope you will" said Simon, losing confidence half way which was something that often happened to him.

"I'm sure I will" assured Chace.

"Tell me a bit more about Clary. What is she like?" The seventeen year old asked. Chace wanted to know so that he wouldn't have to attend the birthday celebration of a complete stranger. That would be quite awkward for him. He needed to know at least a few things. Luckily, Simon jumped at the chance to talk more about Clary. And if Chace had suspected before, he was absolutely sure now that Simon was completely and utterly in love with Clary Fray- the best friend.


	2. Pandemonium

**Chapter 2: Pandemonium**

As was planned the previous day, Chace met with Simon at the place where he and his band would be playing a gig. Of course Simon wasn't alone. He was with two girls. One of them was obviously Clary. It was kind of weird how Chace immediately knew which one was Clary. Simon had talked so much about her yesterday that Chace felt as if he already knew everything about her.

"Hey Chace, glad you could make it" said Simon offering Chace a huge grin. Chace smiled back in return.

"I'm happy to be here."

"Let me introduce you to my friends. This is Maureen." Simon pointed at the dark skinned girl. Chace and Maureen said hello to each other.

"And she is Clary. The best friend I told you about." The smile on Simon's face only brightened as he introduced Clary.

"Of course, the birthday girl. It's a pleasure to meet you Clary. I'm Chace. I met Simon accidentally and we kind of became friends" said Chace. Also he didn't miss to notice Clary subtly checking him out. It made him frown inwardly as Chace realized Simon's love might be very one sided. Poor guy. Chace felt sorry for him. Obviously he didn't come to that conclusion simply because Clary checked him out once. It was the way Clary looked at Simon. She definitely only saw him as a friend. The other girl Maureen however definitely had feelings for Simon. The way she looked at Simon, her attraction towards him was pretty obvious. Only Simon didn't seem to notice it. Chace didn't need to be a genius to figure out that some weird love triangle was going on here.

"I've got something for you." Chace said as he pulled out a jewelry pouch from his jacket pocket and held it to Clary.

"Happy Birthday!" He wished her.

"Oh you didn't need to get me anything" said Clary but she accepted the gift as she didn't want to appear rude. Clary opened the pouch and took out the jewelry inside. It was a beautiful looking bracelet.

"Wow it's absolutely beautiful" gushed out Clary. She really liked it.

"Aww, why isn't it my birthday today?" Maureen complained as everyone laughed good naturedly.

"Thank you Chace" said Clary while giving him a shy smile. The kind of smile that a girl would give a guy she found interesting.

"Actually my mom picked it out. I'm completely clueless when it comes to jewelries" confessed Chace while running a hand through the back of his hair. It was a habit of his when he didn't know what more to say. Or how to behave in a particular situation.

"Well your mom has great taste. Please thank her for me" said Clary.

"I will" said Chace with a smile.

"So Chace, tell me about yourself. It seems Simon has talked to you about me but he has said nothing to me about you." If Clary was subtle about her interest in Chace before, she showed it clearly this time. Chace didn't know how to feel about it. Clary was a very attractive girl and receiving attention from her should've felt awesome but Chace only felt uncomfortable. He thought maybe the reason was because he knew about Simon's feelings for her. Responding to Clary's attraction would mean hurting Simon, who Chace considered a friend. Hurting a friend was a big no no for Chace. The reason could also be that Clary just wasn't his type. Or perhaps there was a third reason. That maybe, instead of having Clary interested in him, Chace would've liked it a lot more if he was getting this kind of attention from Simon. Chace decided to analyze his feelings later in the privacy of his bedroom and began talking to Clary about him.

"Well, I've just moved here from London…"

* * *

Their conversation went on from there and lasted throughout Simon's gig. Speaking of Simon's gig, Chace realized he was actually pretty good. Despite his band consisting only two members Simon himself and Maureen, they kept the audience entertained. The only thing the guy needed was a bit more confidence.

"He's good." Chace complimented Simon's performance. Despite carrying on a conversation with Clary, the seventeen year old had his complete focus on Simon. Chace had hardly looked away from him. However, he wasn't the only one whose attention was captured by Simon. Everyone's gaze was focused on the singer. Though Chace did begin to understand why Maureen was attracted to him. And wondered why Clary wasn't? Perhaps Simon simply wasn't her type. One can't help who they find attractive.

"Of course he is. Unfortunately everyone else knows that except for Simon himself" said Clary.

"Then someone should make him realize that" said Chace looking at her.

"I try but he believes my opinion is biased" said Clary shaking her head to herself as if she felt hopeless about this matter.

"I see. Perhaps I can help with that. Simon doesn't have any grounds to accuse me of being biased" said Chace but Clary shook her head.

"No, he'll think you are just being nice to him." She said.

"Don't worry, I'll make him believe me" said Chace confidently. His eyes were back to focusing on Simon on the stage. This time Clary noticed how Chace was looking at Simon. She remained quiet for a moment before she spoke up again.

"So, Chace, have you left anyone special behind in London?" Clary asked. She tried to sound casual about it, hiding her curiosity well. But it was easy to tell that she was very curious. Chace looked back at her, only to find her looking at him quite intently.

"Um, no… not really. I mean all my friends are special to me and I left all of them behind but I suppose you're asking if I had a girlfriend or a boyfriend. The answer is no. I haven't had a romantic interest in my life yet" said Chace. He didn't shy away from mentioning a boyfriend and Clary clearly picked up on that.

"Are you bi?" She didn't hesitate to ask.

"Unsure, is what I am. At least for the time being. That's why I haven't put a label on myself yet" explained Chace.

"Well I'm sure you'll figure it out when you meet the right person" said Clary offering Chace an understanding smile. She also stopped batting her eyelashes at him, thankfully. She must've realized Chace may lean more towards Simon than her. The change in her behavior creased Chace's earlier discomfort with Clary. As a result he was able to talk more freely with her.

"My mom says the same thing to me" said Chace.

"There you go. Moms can't be wrong, right?" Clary said with a grin.

"Right" agreed Chace. He didn't bother letting Clary know that after his parents' separation his feelings regarding love had gotten a lot more complicated. It was something personal and clearly someone he just met an hour ago didn't need to know that. Nevertheless, Chace was almost certain that he wasn't about to meet anyone right for him as he didn't believe in it anymore.

* * *

Simon's gig ended and they all came out to where Simon's van was parked. Clary was given the task of painting the band's new name on the van. Chace had to admit she was quite brilliant in her artistry. He wished he had an artistic skill like Simon and Clary. In fact Chace would've been happy with any kind of any skill. Yeah, he was very ordinary. He was good in his studies and average in sports but that was all. There wasn't anything that Chace could claim as his thing. No special talent. Nada. Or perhaps Chace got a talent but hadn't figured it out yet. Just like his sexuality. Once Clary was finished, they started talking about a tag that Clary seemed to have painted without meaning too.

"You know they've confirmed cases of people waking up in the morning speaking French and they never even studied the language" said Maureen.

"Do you think that's some kind of language?" Clary asked her.

"Whatever it is, it looks good though" said Chace as he went closer to the van to inspect the tag more carefully.

"It's Sanskrit, maybe" said Maureen and then she walked over to Simon. Suddenly Chace's attention was drawn away from the art as Clary snapped at a guy for bumping into her. The guy had blonde hair, Heterochromia eyes and he was wearing all black. Black jacket, black pants and black leather boots. Not to mention, the guy was literary covered with tattoos. He was definitely pulling off a bad boy persona. Not to mention his handsome face made him all the more desirable. No wonder Clary blushed brightly the moment she looked at him properly.

"You can see me?" The blonde guy asked Clary as if he couldn't believe it. Weird. Chace thought to himself. What was this guy getting at?

"Yeah, that's kind of the point but you obviously didn't see me" said Clary. And she may have a little flirtatious tone to her voice. But the guy looked even more serious when he said-

"You have the sight."

"Wait, the what?" Clary asked incredulously thinking the guy was hitting on her but in a really weird way.

"How can I not know who you are?" The guy said, and this time even Chace thought the guy was just really bad at hitting on a girl.

"Has that line seriously ever worked for you? Even once?" Clary asked but the guy remained unfazed. He looked even more serious if that was possible. Chace was so absorbed in the confrontation Clary was having with the blonde stranger that he completely missed the weird looks Simon was giving Clary. Then suddenly someone called the blonde guy from distance.

"Jace!" It made the guy give Clary one last look before he took off.

"Can you guys believe that blonde dude?" Clary said as she walked over to where Simon and Maureen were standing. Chace approached them too only to notice the weird looks both Simon and Maureen were giving Clary.

"You mean the imaginary dude you were talking to?" Simon asked. Both Chace and Clary frowned at him with confusion.

"She's talking about that guy." Chace pointed at the guy running towards the club but it only made Simon and Maureen give him weird looks too.

"What guy?" Simon asked as if he really couldn't see anyone.

"The guy right there, running into the club." Clary insisted but it was in vain. Simon and Maureen still insisted there was no one.

"Clary there's nobody there." Maureen said it so firmly, it made Chace realize that they really weren't kidding. They weren't trying to pull any prank here.

"You really don't see anyone, do you?" Chace said as he looked at Clary with confusion written all over his face.

"But you saw him right, talking to me?" Clary asked to which Chace nodded his head. What the hell was going on here?

"Seriously, you two, what are you talking about? What guy? There's really no one there." Simon insisted. He was starting to get worried now.

"I don't understand. How come they didn't see him but we did?" Chace asked that more to himself than to Clary.

"You really don't see him?" Clary asked again for confirmation. She would've thought that she had gone crazy if Chace hadn't seen the guy too. But still the situation with Simon and Maureen not seeing the guy at all wasn't making any sense to her.

"Clary, what was in your latte?" Simon asked, coming to the conclusion that Clary and Chace were under the influence of drugs here. It was making them see things. Only if it was that simple.

"How do you explain me? I haven't eaten or drunk anything since I got here but I've seen the dude too" said Chace. He was absolutely certain he wasn't drugged. In fact, he was starting to suspect if Simon and Maureen were drugged which was making them not see things.

"Let's go Chace" said Clary as she took off her hoodie. Chace raised his eyebrows at her in a wondering manner.

"You want answers too right?" Chace thought about it for a second then decided to follow Clary. He needed to know what was really going on here or he'd be left wondering about it and come up with ridiculous conclusions.

"But we'll leave if there's any sign of danger, okay" said Chace to which Clary agreed. They began to advance towards the club, only to have Simon stop them.

"Hey hold on a minute. Clary, remember your fake ID sucks. And Chace here doesn't even have one. How are you going to get in without getting caught?" This stopped Clary and Chace. They needed a plan to get inside. Chace and Clary looked at each other, clearly thinking of a way to get in. After a moment of thinking, Chace finally came up with an idea.

"Okay, I've got an idea." He said, then he looked around for a potential target. It didn't take him long to spot a woman who was definitely going to the club. Chace quickly opened the top three buttons of his shirt and made a mess of his hair. The other three watched with amazement as Chace turned from handsome to a hot mess right before their eyes. If he was attractive before, now Chace looked irresistible. Both Clary and Maureen couldn't help but blush as they openly checked him out. In fact, even Simon couldn't stop himself from giving Chace a once over. Unfortunately, Chace didn't notice any of that as he was a man on a mission. He quickly walked towards the woman and intentionally bumped into her while making it look like an accident. It obviously worked and Chace gained the woman's attention.

"Oh I'm so sorry. Are you alright?" Chace asked the woman, sounding perfectly concerned. The woman on the other hand smiled at him flirtatiously.

"I'm more than alright sweetheart. After all it's not every day a hot stuff like you comes my way. So where are you headed?" The woman asked. Obviously she was thinking of Chace as a potential hook up, at least for the night.

"No place special. I had actually come here to check out this club since I've heard so much about it from my friends. I wish I could get in there but considering I'm underage and don't have a fake ID on me, I can only enjoy the music from outside." Hearing that the woman smiled at him seductively.

"Well you're in luck then. Come with me. I can get you in. I'm called Alice by the way." The woman introduced herself.

"I'm Chace."

"Judging by that sexy English accent of yours, you aren't from around here, are you?" Alice asked as they both walked towards the club entrance. Chace gave the others a signal to quietly follow them.

"Yeah, I've just moved here from London." Chace and Alice made small talks all the way to the club entrance. It was when they were about to enter that Chace pretended to suddenly notice his friends there. Then he requested Alice to let his friends in as well. Needless to say, Alice couldn't resist the puppy dog eyes Chace gave her and she gave in. And that was how they all got into the club without any trouble.

"I'm gonna go fail at getting us some birthday drinks" announced Simon.

"I'm gonna go fail with you" said Maureen and they both left. Clary looked at Chace.

"I'm gonna go find that blonde guy." She said to him to which Chace nodded. He couldn't go with Clary because even though they were already inside, Chace couldn't just ditch Alice. He needed to be with her for a while before he could sneakily get away from her.

Chace looked around the club, hoping to notice the blonde guy among the crowd as Alice dragged him in the middle of the dance floor. Chace didn't see the blonde guy but his eyes did land on a very handsome looking guy. He was tall. Taller than Chace by a head. Co-incidentally this guy too was wearing everything black like that blonde dude. And he too was covered in tats. Chace wondered if they knew each other. After all there was someone who had called the blonde dude from afar when he had bumped into Clary. Having Alice grind into him, made Chace look away from the hot guy. Chace couldn't spend more time with Alice for he needed to find Clary and see if she was able to find the blonde dude who was invisible to Simon and Maureen.

"Hey, Alice I need to use the rest room here. Will be back in a jiffy." Saying that Chace got away from Alice without giving her a chance to follow him or stop him.

While Chace searched for Clary, he noticed a lot of weird looking people. And by weird he meant, there was just something off about them. Chace even made eye contact with a half-Asian guy who was practically covered in make-ups. And that wasn't all, he even felt the guy following him with his eyes. For some reason it gave Chace chills and made the hair on his arms stand up. In his hurry to get away from that guy's inquisitive gaze, Chace stumbled inside the private section of the club. There he found Clary, as well as the blonde guy. However, what was going on there was something Chace didn't think he would be witnessing tonight or ever. Clary was holding a sword that was glowing. The blonde dude was slicing down men left and right but instead of those men falling down and bleeding out on the floor, they were simply disappearing into thin air after burning out. There were two others who were also covered in tattoos. A girl in a white dress and the handsome guy Chace had noticed before. They were killing everyone too. Before Chace could make sense of what the hell was happening, someone grabbed him from behind.

"Drop your weapons, or I'll kill this mundane." The man who had grabbed Chace snarled at the three who were holding weapons.

"Chace!" Clary exclaimed. She was just as clueless as Chace was about what was going on. But she didn't need to be a genius to know that these were some very dangerous people.

"Clary, what is going on?" Chace couldn't stop himself from asking despite having a hand wrapped around his neck.

"Shut up!" The man holding him hostage shouted at him and tightened his hold.

"I said drop your weapons!" The man demanded once again. The three strangers holding swords looked at each other. Clearly debating whether they should give into the demand or not. Seeing their hesitance Clary snapped at the blonde dude.

"Do as he says!" The blonde guy looked at Clary.

"Please!" She was clearly desperate. The guy considered something for a second then he nodded at the other two. The three of them reluctantly put down their weapons.

"Okay they've put down their weapons now, so let me go." Chace said to the guy who showed no interest of letting him go.

"You can see us." It was the black haired handsome who said it as if he couldn't believe his own eyes.

"What is happening tonight? First her and then him." The blonde guy sounded frustrated about something.

"I'm not letting you go. You are gonna help me get out of here." Chace knew there was a possibility that this guy wouldn't let him go even after he helped him get out of the club. His attacker could even kill him after he was done using him to get away. Hence there was only one thing Chace could do.

"I don't think so." Chace elbowed the guy in his stomach with all his strength. It should've hurt the guy enough but he was only a little surprised. Clearly the guy wasn't expecting Chace to fight him. When elbowing the guy didn't work, Chace started to struggle against his hold with all his might. Unfortunately Chace only accomplished pissing off his captor. Then something happened that shocked Chace so much that he completely froze. His captor's mouth suddenly opened up and took shape of tentacles. This creature shrieked at Chace and titled his head to the side only to attack his neck. Chace felt intense pain as something sank into his skin. Was this creature infecting him with something? Chace never felt such fear before. He was going to die and there was nothing he could do about it. Chace thought about his moms and how they were gonna be devastated about his death. Would they even learn about his death?

Then suddenly something happened that not only shocked Chace but the three strangers as well who clearly knew everything about what was actually happening here. The creature suddenly started to choke and cough. He was holding his neck as if he was just poisoned.

"What is happening? What did you do?" The creature shouted at Chace. Then right before his eyes, the creature's skin started to boil and turn black and then in a blink of eye, it exploded into a black gooey mess. The sight was utterly disgusting and on a whole new level of confusing. It felt like forever to Chace but all this actually happened in a matter of few minutes.

"What the hell just happened?" Chace asked out loud but more to himself.

"I've a better question. What the hell are you?" The dark haired male asked, eying Chace with suspicious gaze.

"I don't know what you are talking about" said Chace, still feeling dizzy from what just happened.

"Okay, you need to come with us. Both of you" said the blonde guy. More like ordered them. Clary and Chace looked at each other. They both knew what they had to do.

"Clary run!" And then they both ran away from there as if the devil himself was after them.

Clary bumped into the half-Asian guy on her way and he gave Clary a look as if he knew her. For a moment Clary too felt confused as she felt like she knew the guy too. But she shoved that thought at the back of her mind and kept rushing towards the entrance along with Chace. They breathed out in relief only after they got out of the club.

"I never thought tonight's gonna be so crazy" said Chace, heaving out heavily as he was completely out of breath. Clary's state was no better than him.

"We should go to the police" said Chace.

"And tell them what? That we saw some weird creatures with tentacles getting killed by invisible people? I think we should just go home" said Clary.

"But what if they come after us?" Chace asked feeling concerned. Those guys did want them to come along with them.

"Well they don't know where we live. So let's just get out of here." Chace nodded his head, agreeing with Clary that going home was the best thing to do now. They were so caught up with what just happened, both Clary and Chace completely forgot about informing Simon and Maureen that they were leaving. They both left the club in separate cabs not noticing two men with a circle tattoo on their necks quietly following Clary to her home.

* * *

Fortunately, Chace got home without getting into any trouble. He felt conflicted about whether he should tell his mom about what happened tonight or not. It was not that Chace thought that his mom wouldn't believe him since truth to be told, he could hardly believe himself of what he had witnessed tonight. He simply didn't want to worry his mother. Deciding that he would keep it to himself for now, Chace said goodnight to his mom and retired to his bedroom.

Sadly, there wasn't going to be any sleeping for Chace tonight. He quickly turned on his computer and started to search the internet for anything that could help him make sense of what had happened at the club. Chace tried many key words, 'creatures with tentacles', 'aliens with tentacles', 'supernatural creature with tentacles', 'hot invisible guys with tattoos'. Needless to say, none of the keywords returned any satisfactory result. At one point, Chace even started to regret not going with those guys because his curiosity was driving him crazy now. Perhaps Clary would be able to find something.

Chace grabbed his phone and sent a text to Clary asking if she could meet with him tomorrow. He tossed his phone aside and dropped himself on the bed. Chace had school in the morning but the last thing he wanted was to go to school. He had a mystery to solve and he would hardly be paying any attention to his classes. Perhaps he could skip classes but then again he literary had no idea where to start looking for answers to his questions. Little did Chace know that the incident in the club was merely a ripple that was gonna turn into a tsunami in his life in the near future?


	3. Warlocks Are Real?

**Chapter 3: Warlocks Are Real?**

The next day when Chace woke up after only two hours of sleep, the last thing he wanted to do was get out of the bed. Chace checked his phone but there was no reply from Clary. Sighing out heavily, Chace started to get ready for school. He figured it was better to be somewhere crowded than stay home alone after his mom left for work. Chace stood in front of the mirror after getting dressed. The wound on his neck was still very visible but it was starting to heal. He had to pretend to not knowing anything about a wound on his neck when his mother inquired about it last night. Thankfully the mark wasn't big enough and a mere suggestion of accidentally getting scratched by something put his mother's inquiry to rest. But Chace himself was worried though. Whatever that creature was, what if it had infected him with something? What if he was already on his way to becoming something monstrous? When it comes to the supernatural world, getting bitten is where it all starts. Especially in movies and fictions. Chace needed to find answers and fast. He could not, absolutely not sit around and wait for something terrible to happen to him.

After Chace walked out of the building he looked over his shoulder every five seconds as he made his way towards his school. He never felt so paranoid before in his life. But given what had happened last night, that was exactly how he was supposed to feel. Even when sitting in class Chace couldn't relax and always felt alarmed. Needless to say, he couldn't concentrate a bit in any of his classes. He could hardly tell when teachers came and left, let alone hear a word of the lectures given.

Once the school was over, Chace checked his phone again but there was still no response from Clary. He tried calling her but she didn't answer. Having no other choice Chace called Simon.

"Hey Simon, have you heard from Clary today?" Chace asked with urgency in his voice that he couldn't conceal.

"I've tried calling her but she isn't picking up."

_"Yeah, she isn't picking up my calls either. I'm actually starting to get worried._ " And Simon did sound worried.

_"Why were you calling her?_ " He asked Chace.

"There's just something I need to talk to her about. Something happened last night at the club." Chace decided that Simon should know about this. Perhaps together they could find answers.

_"Yeah both of you left the club in a hurry last night. Chace what is going on?"_ Simon asked getting more worried if that was even possible. Chace sighed out heavily.

"Meet me at Andy's." said Chace. It was the diner where Simon and Chace had met the second time.

"We'll talk there." He said.

* * *

When Chace arrived at the diner, Simon was already waiting for him there.

"Hey, woh, you look like a mess dude. Didn't you get any sleep last night?" Simon asked looking at his new friend with concern in his eyes. Chace only shook his head in reply.

"Don't worry about me. Look I need to tell you what happened last night at the club. But first we need to get Clary" said Chace. And the way he sounded made Simon very concerned.

"I tried calling her but she isn't picking up man" said Simon. Chace could tell he was beginning to panic about his best friend's well being.

"Then let's go to her place and see what's going on with her" suggested Chace.

"Yeah, I was thinking of going over there myself. It's not far from here" said Simon.

"Okay, let's go then."

Simon and Chace left the diner and headed towards Clary's place. Simon informed Chace that Clary lived with her mom Jocelyn on their way. And that her dad died even before she was born. Simon and Chace reached the loft and found that the place was completely destroyed. It shocked them to no limits.

"What the hell happened here?" Simon gasped out loudly. He was horrified and couldn't believe his own eyes.

"Something bad" said Chace as he walked around carefully to inspect the damages more closely. It appeared that the place was under attack. And not just any kind of attack but a dangerous one.

"Whatever happened here, I've a feeling it has something to do with what happened last night" said Chace more to himself than to Simon.

"Chace, you need to tell me what happened. Right now." Simon sounded very serious this time. Chace knew there was a possibility that Simon wouldn't believe a single word he said, but he told him anyway. After Chace's explanation, all Simon could do was gap at him.

"You are kidding me, right?" Simon exclaimed with disbelieve in his voice. Chace shook his head at him.

"I wish I was but that's what happened."

"People with tentacles around their mouths." Simon stated but it sounded like a question too. Chace nodded his head anyway.

"And guys with tattoos killing those people." Chace nodded again.

"And it all happened at a club. A club!" This time Simon couldn't help but yell due to the rediculousness of the explanation Chace gave him. The seventeen year old however could only exhale a deep breath and nodded once again. Chace knew how hard it was to believe what he was saying. Hell, he had witnessed all that with his own eyes still he could hardly believe them.

"Look, I know it sounds crazy but Simon, look at this place. Clary was clearly attacked. Either by those tentacle mouth creatures or those tattooed guys. In fact, by the looks of it I'm in danger too. I need answers before I get killed."

"Do you think Clary-?" Simon couldn't finish his question. It was too much for him. He couldn't even think that Clary might be dead.

"I don't know" was Chace's honest reply. He surely hoped that nothing like that had happened to Clary.

"We need to go to Luke. He's the only one who can help us" said Simon. There was determination in his voice now. Determination of finding Clary.

"Who's Luke?" Chace asked.

"He's a cop and a good friend of Jocelyn. He's been like a father to Clary her entire life. If there's anyone who can help us find her, it's him" said Simon confidently. Trusting Simon on this, Chace followed him to the police station. However, before they could enter the station, Chace stopped Simon.

"Stop." He held Simon back and forced him to hide behind a wall.

"What?" Simon asked confusedly.

"There's two tattooed guys standing near the entrance" said Chace. Simon looked but obviously he didn't see anyone.

"I don't see anyone there" said Simon.

"I don't know why you can't see them but believe me there is two men standing right there. We can't be here" said Chace as he decided to leave.

"No, I'm not leaving until I talk to Luke. And frankly I'm starting to think you're on drugs or something." Chace looked at Simon, feeling a little offended at what he just said. Chace understood that Simon was worried sick for Clary but that didn't mean he could accuse him of being out of his mind.

"Then how do you explain the loft?" Chace asked sounding a little pissed off.

"Surely me being on drugs, which I'm not- wouldn't destroy Clary's home now, would it?" Chace and Simon stared at each other for a moment before Simon made up his mind and said-

"I'm going to Luke. You can stay here or leave."

"Fine, you do what you need to do. I'm gonna go and try find some answers" said Chace and he started to leave.

"And where is it that you're gonna find answers?" Simon asked. He didn't want Chace to leave and go on his own. What if his life was really in danger?

"Where it all started" said Chace and he left.

* * *

Chace believed Pandemonium had answers to at least some of his questions. But he was also aware of the danger in there. Chace hesitated. He hesitated a lot before entering the club again but his desire for answers out weighted his fears. The club was just as it was yesterday. People were dancing, getting drunk, and making out in the dark corners. It was as if nothing had happened here yesterday. Chace looked around while trying to blend in as much as possible. He didn't want to draw attention to himself at all. That was until he was stopped in his way. And the person standing in his way was none other than the half-Asian guy with make ups from last night.

"Hey there pretty boy, you looking for someone?" The guy asked. Chace's instinct told him to run away as fast as possible but he forced himself to stand still.

"No, I'm ah just visiting. Just visiting" said Chace, hoping against hope that he didn't sound too nervous.

"Well then why don't you join me? It's not every day a cute thing like you comes into my club. I'm Magnus Bane by the way." The guy introduced himself. Chace decided to behave normal so he did what anyone else would do in this situation.

"Chace. Chace Williams. This, it's your club Mr. Bane?" Chace asked as this guy named Magnus led him over to the VIP area.

"Magnus please. And yes, it is my club. How do you like it?" Magnus asked as he motioned for Chace to sit on the couch which he did.

"It's great. I really like it" said Chace and it wasn't that hard to sound convincing.

"I can tell after all you came here yesterday and visiting again tonight." Chace immediately became alarmed hearing that. Magnus didn't miss to notice this.

"Relax. I don't mean any harm. I'm simply curious" said Magnus.

"About what?" Chace nervously asked. It made Magnus smirk at him.

"About you of course. So Chace, tell me about yourself." Magnus handed him over a glass of drink. Chace took it but made no attempt to drink it. He wasn't stupid enough to drink something a complete stranger offered him. If Magus had noticed this, he didn't take any offense and waited for Chace to start talking about himself.

"There's ah nothing much to tell really" said Chace but Magnus didn't believe that.

"Oh come on, there must be something. Not everyone can kill a demon love." Chace choked on his own breath. Not because Magnus called him love but because of what he said. Chace opened his mouth to deny this but Magnus stopped him before he could utter a single word.

"Before you start saying things like you don't know what I'm talking about and pretend to be clueless, let me tell you I know everything that happens in this club. Last night you killed a demon along with those shadowhunters and Clarissa Fairchild. You know her as Clary Fray I believe." A moment of intense silence took over them. Chace didn't know how many minutes passed before he could talk again. But when he could talk the first thing he asked was-

"Are you a demon too? If you are, I swear I didn't mean to kill one of you. He's the one who bit me and then exploded. I really don't know anything. I'm not pretending. I came here today hoping to find some answers. Oh god! You are gonna kill me, aren't you?" Magnus put up his hand to stop Chace right there.

"First of all, I've no intention of killing you. And I'm a warlock. Not a demon. Though, I do have demon blood in me. But that's not the point. The point is you are safe with me." It took Chace a moment to register what exactly Magnus just said.

"Warlocks are real?" Obviously Chace had a hard time believing that. Magnus simply smirked and snapped his fingers, making a black rose appear in his hand out of nowhere. He offered it to Chace who took it hesitatingly. Chace also looked as if he was in a trance. Well not everyday one gets to see someone conjuring flower out of thin air.

"Wicked man" said Chace and Magnus could tell the boy was mesmerized. It might've made the warlock feel a little bit flattered.

"So warlocks are real." This time it was a statement rather than a question. Magnus nodded in confirmation.

"Warlocks are real. So are vampires, werewolves, fairies... and of course demons."

"Is there anything that isn't real?" Chace asked and he couldn't help but roll his eyes to himself. His fear was slowly starting to replace with frustration. What else was going to become real and not remain fictional anymore?

"Aliens. I'm over three hundred years old but never encountered one." Magnus's humor didn't help Chace feel any better.

"And here I was hoping to run into E.T next" was Chace's sarcastic response to the warlock. Magnus only chuckled at that.

"Wait, did you just say you're over three hundred years old?" Chace asked incredulously. This was too much to process all at once. Chace feared he would lose his mind with all these unbelievable information. However, there was a tiny part in Chace that was excited about all this. Excited about discovering the supernatural world. It made him feel elated. Made him feel special.

"Well yes, I am after all an immortal being." Magnus said boastfully.

"Now, I've said enough about me. Let's talk about you. You were able to kill a demon last night." Chace opened his mouth to defend himself but Magnus held up a finger and pressed it against his lips which prevented the boy from speaking.

"The fact that you did it unknowingly doesn't matter. You were able to do it, that's what matters. Wow your lips are really soft." Magnus said out of nowhere which immediately turned Chace red in the face. Not to mention the warlock even started brushing his thumb against Chace's pulpy lower lip. The boy tried to remain unaffected and focus on what Magus was saying who continued talking as if he never got off topic.

"I know Clarissa Fairchild is a shadowhunter that's why she could wield Seraph blade but you Chace, you are a mystery to me." Thankfully after saying that Magnus retraced his hand from Chace's lips which allowed the boy to speak again.

"Believe me, I'm starting to feel the same. Look I really don't know how I was able to kill that guy, I mean that demon. Like I told you, I did nothing."

"I know. I've seen the CCTV footage. I suspect it's something in your blood that did away the demon." Magnus voiced his opinion which only confused Chace more.

"My blood?"

"And the fact that you're still alive is no less than a miracle. That wound on your neck should have killed you within minutes. Mundanes infected with demon venom dies instantly which makes you Chace Williams no ordinary mundane." Magnus explained which didn't really help Chace be any less confused.

"So what are you trying to say, that I've demon killing blood or something. And what are you calling me mundane for? Since I'm able to gain the attention of a three hundred year old wizard, shouldn't that prove I'm interesting enough?" Chace wasn't really offended. Okay yeah maybe a little. He just didn't understand how the warlock found him boring? Was there anything more interesting than having demon killing blood? If anything Chace was a badass. Not mundane.

"I prefer the term warlock. Mundane is what we call non-supernatural beings." Magnus explained, finding Chace's pouting lips absolutely adorable.

"You mean like muggles?" Chace asked frowning at the warlock. Magnus couldn't help but smile at the boy.

"Yes like muggles." He said. Yes, Magnus Bane had read Harry Potter books and watched the movies as well.

"Then why not call humans that? That is way cooler than mundane." Chace complained despite knowing it was a ridiculous topic to argue about.

"Because J.K Rowling has copyright on the term muggle duh!" Magnus spoke as if that was the most obvious reason. Chace rolled his eyes at that and decided to drop the topic.

"So what the hell is a shadowhunter? Another supernatural being. And you're saying Clary is one."

"Yes she is. And so were the others you met yesterday. They basically kill demons to protect humans" explained Magnus.

"So they are the good guys?" asked Chace.

"Um not necessarily." Magnus's response confused Chace, so he jumped into asking more questions.

"What do you mean?" Magnus inhaled a deep breath. As much as he was enjoying having this conversation with Chace, it was getting way past the boy's bedtime. And so the warlock decided to call it a night.

"Look, I'll give you a lesson on the shadowhunters later. It's getting late. Let me take you home" said Magnus standing up from the couch. Chace followed his move and stoop up as well.

"Oh you don't have to-" Chace begun to say but Magnus didn't let him finish.

"It's not safe for you to be out alone." The way Magnus spoke, it was pretty clear that the matter wasn't up for debate. Magnus was taking Chace home and that was that.

"Why are you helping me?" Chace couldn't help but ask the warlock. Magnus remained quiet for a moment. Chace thought he wasn't gonna get an answer but he did.

"Let's just say, I know what it's like not knowing who you are and what you are capable of doing. It's very easy to make a mistake that you're gonna regret for the rest of your life simply because you didn't know." Chace realized Magnus was speaking from experience and that it was a sore topic for him. Chace decided to change the subject and not question the warlock further.

"Thank you for doing this. Earlier you said you've demon blood in you but you're still a kind person. At least you seem like one to me. I could've gotten into a lot of trouble trying to find answers but you prevented that from happening. I don't know how to repay you for this." Yes, Chace was aware that Magnus was still basically a stranger to him and that he shouldn't get involved with the warlock at all. For all Chace knew this nicety could merely be an act and Magnus could be planning to trap him. Chace wasn't trusting Magnus. Not really. But for now Magnus was the only one who knew about the supernatural world and was willing to satisfy Chace's curiosity. Besides, nothing Magnus did this evening felt threatening to Chace or made his alarm go off.

"Your company is all the repayment I require love" said Magnus flirtatiously making Chace blush and smile bashfully at the warlock.

"Aww, and here I thought you couldn't be more adorable." That only made Chace's face turn redder.

"You know if you keep this up, I might start flirting back. I'm a fast learner. Before you know it, I could be the one making you go red in the face." Chace threatened the warlock only to make him laugh out loud.

"Perhaps that's what I'm hoping for" said Magnus unabashedly.

"I wouldn't mind having a pupil who I could teach all my flirting techniques to." The warlock said light heartedly.

"Ooh I would be careful about wishing something like that. If I do become your student, I won't be satisfied with just learning about flirting techniques." Chace then intentionally leaned closer to the warlock, invading his person space, making sure that Magnus felt his breath on his neck.

"You'll have to teach me a lot more than that." Chace said, intentionally making his voice low, husky and seductive. He heard Magnus gulp. Saw his adam's apple bob up and down. Chace pulled back and there it was. A slight red tint on Magnus' cheeks. It made Chace smirk. Made him feel smug.

"See told you, I'm a fast learner." He said with an unashamed grin.

"You could be my undoing pretty boy" said Magnus as he shook off the spell Chace had momentarily put on him.

"So you're interested in men?" Chace couldn't stop himself from asking.

"I'm interested in anyone who catches my eyes" said the warlock. And he was definitely not apologetic about it.

"You don't discriminate then, how generous" said Chace with a little teasing tone in his voice.

"I'll take that as a compliment" said Magnus.

"It is one" confirmed Chace. Magnus could only shake his head at the boy. The warlock was fairly certain due to this encounter that his life was about to be very interesting from now on.

"Now let's get you home before it's too late" said Magnus.

"After you" said Chace. With that Chace and Magnus left the club; both knowing that this wasn't going to be their last meeting. Not at all.


	4. The Shadow World Part-I

**Chapter 4: The Shadow World Part-I**

Chace was returning back from school. Last night Magnus had not only taken him home from the club but he had also put up wards all around the apartment, claiming that it would protect Chace and his mom. Chace was thankful for it. He was going to meet Magnus again tonight and hopefully learn more about the supernatural world. Chace was particularly curious about the shadowhunters. The seventeen year old was so preoccupied with his thoughts that he walked right into someone. And just when Chace looked up to apologize to the person, he found that it was the black haired guy from the other night. Chace immediately took a step back. He knew now that this guy was a shadowhunter but he was still unaware of their role in the supernatural world. Were they the good guys or the bad guys? Or were they in a grey area or something? Chace looked around and realized that no one was noticing the male standing in front of him. No one was glancing at the shadowhunter.

"No one else can see you, can they?" Chace asked looking back at the guy.

"That's right. So unless you don't want to appear crazy talking to yourself, I suggest you walk with me." The guy said. This was the first time Chace heard him talk while he was in the right state of mind and not feeling like losing it after watching a demon explode in black blood. Chace had to admit the dude had a really sexy voice. A voice that had the power of making Chace weak in the knees. Unfortunately it was no time for him to drool over a guy's voice.

"How did you find me?" Chace asked as he reluctantly followed the tattooed guy.

"Not important. Your friends are with us." replied the guy.

"You mean Simon and Clary? Both of them? Is Clary alright?" Chace fired away questions all at once. It was clear he was worried about them.

"Keep your head down when speaking. Invisible remember? And Clary is fine now." Alec replied with a stern voice as if he didn't want to talk about Clary. It made Chace frown in confusion. Did this guy and Clary have some problems?

"That's good to hear. I'm Chace by the way." Chace introduced himself.

"I know" was the guy's only reply. It made Chace furrow his eyebrows at him.

"This is the part where you tell me _your_ name or is it a top secret or something?" Chace tried not to sound too sarcastic because who knew, keeping their names secret could be a shadowhunter thing. Or not-

"My name is Alec. I'm a shadowhunter." The guy shortly replied. It was clear to Chace then that this guy simply lacked manners. He decided to ignore it and continue their conversation.

"Now that is something I already know" said Chace feeling proud of himself for not being completely clueless. But this statement made the shadowhunter stop in his way and face him.

"And what else do you know?" Alec asked, eying Chace suspiciously. It certainly made him uncomfortable.

"Just a few basics. I um only learned about the supernatural world yesterday" said Chace with uncertainty and hesitation in his voice. It felt to him as if he was defending himself. But he didn't do anything wrong.

"It's called the shadow world. And from where exactly a mundane like you learned about the shadow world?" Alec inquired as he eyed Chace up and down. As if he was looking down on him. It pissed Chace off. When Magnus had used the word mundane, it didn't sound like an insult which was not the case with Alec.

"From someone who wasn't an asshole like a certain shadowhunter I've met." Alec glared at Chace for that, and Chace glared right back. Alec opened his mouth to say something back, most likely another petty insult but decided against it.

"Keep up mundane." With that he started to walk again, with faster pace this time. He didn't care if Chace had to jog to keep up with him. Yeah, the shadowhunter was definitely pissed.

"Where are we going?" Chace couldn't help but ask after five minutes of them silently walking. But Alec didn't bother answering him or slowing down for that matter. This pissed off Chace even more. This shadowhunter may have a gorgeous face but his manners sucked. Chace stopped walking and stood still. They were in an alley where there was no one. Chace could talk openly here without anyone thinking he was crazy.

"Look, I'm not going anywhere with you unless you tell me." This made Alec stop as well. He inhaled a deep breath as if trying to calm down. Clearly he was losing patience with this mundane.

"Look mundane, every second we are out here, we are in danger." Alec snapped at the boy who appeared unfazed by his anger. Though what Chace felt inside was another matter.

"The name's Chace. And if you don't want to waste any time here then hurry up and tell me where we are going" said Chace with a shrug of his shoulders. Boy he couldn't sound more nonchalant. This time he definitely succeeded getting on the hunter's nerve. Not that Chace was failing before.

"You know I don't need your consent. I can just drag you there" threatened Alec.

"That would be kidnapping for which you could go to jail. And where exactly is 'there'? Why can't you just answer?" Chace remained stubborn. Alec glared more heatedly at the boy. In the end the shadowhunter decided to just answer rather than cause unnecessary trouble.

"We are going to the institute. It's where Clary and Simon are right now."

"See that wasn't so hard, was it?" Chace smiled cheekily at the shadowhunter, feeling victorious. Somehow the murderous glare he received only made Chace feel more smug.

"Now walk." Alec commanded in an authoritative voice.

* * *

While Chace was heading towards the institute with Alec, his friends Simon and Clary were learning about this whole new world over there. After two days of staying unconscious Clary had finally woken up at the institute. She learned about shadowhunters, and the shadow world as soon as she woke up. She even met Hodge and found out about the Circle and Valentine. And of course the mortal cup. It was saddening that Clary found out that Luke was someone she couldn't trust anymore. She never thought such a day would come. Also she had no idea where Dot was. And to top it all, her mother was taken by the enemy. The only good thing that happened was that Simon found her and now he was with her. Clary would've hated to be completely alone in this.

She also wanted to go and find Chace. After all he had the sight too like her. If what Clary had learned were true, then Chace very well be a shadowhunter too. He should be told about all this. Clary could only imagine the confusion he must be feeling. She had heard from Simon that Chace was looking for her. But then he went off on his own. Clary could only hope that Chace hadn't got into any danger.

"Let's get out of here, just you and me. We can get Dot ourselves." Simon tried to convince Clary to leave with him. But Clary knew that wasn't an option. Not if she wanted to rescue her mother.

"Simon, there are demons out there, okay? Actual demons with tentacles that wanna murder us. Do you know how to kill a demon?"

"I'm an internet search away." Simon insisted.

"Simon I really don't think it's that simple." Clary tried to convince him but Simon was ready to argue with her.

"Don't bother with the internet Simon. It's completely useless. I know because I've already tried." Both Clary and Simon looked up at once and found Chace standing right before them.

Alec had gone off to do something as soon as he entered the institute along with Chace. Apparently the guy couldn't bother with giving Chace a tour. The boy was to find his own way and hopefully not get lost in this stranger place. The institute looked like an abandoned church from the outside but the inside was a completely different story. Due to having the sight, Chace didn't need Alec's help to see the real face of the institute. Thankfully Chace was able to find Simon and Clary without getting into any trouble.

"Chace how did you get here?" Clary asked as she quickly approached him and pulled him into a hug. Chace was surprised for a moment but then he hugged her back. He understood that a lot had happened with Clary in a short period of time. It was natural for her to feel overwhelmed. Besides, he was someone she could relate too. Both of them found out things about themselves that they had no idea about. Strangely Simon didn't mind Clary hugging Chace. He simply joined in the hug.

The trio didn't notice the other trio in the room looking at them, each with a different emotion in their eyes. Jace downright felt annoyed with Clary hugging Chace. Izzy felt curious about the relation between them. And Alec felt both relieved and something unexplainable as he watched the trio. Relieved because Jace might have some competition for Clary after all. There was hope, no matter how little that they wouldn't end up together by the end of the week. And the other thing Alec felt, he didn't know what that was, let alone have a name for that feeling.

"Alec brought me here. So what's the situation?" Chace asked, immediately wanting to dive into whatever was going on.

"We're going to find Dot. She turns out to be a warlock. She can help us find my mom" said Clary.

"There's so much more you need to know" added Simon as he jumped into talking about the Circle who had Clary's mom and wanted the mortal cup in exchange. Not to mention details about what the mortal cup actually was, since Chace had no clue about it.

"Yes, just tell him everything we know. Seriously, neither of you stopped to think for a second that he might be working for Valentine." It was none other than Jace who said this. He was trying not to sound pissed but anyone could tell that he was for whatever reason. Chace recognized him as the blonde dude who got them all into this mess in the first place. Only if he hadn't bumped into Clary, their lives would still be normal.

"What proof you have that you're not working for him?" Chace asked right back at him. Jace scoffed in disbelieve at that accusation.

"I AM the one who saved her." He said pointing at Clary. Which only made Chace scoff at the blonde.

"Yeah after getting us involved into this mess in the first place. How do you think the Circle found out about Clary? Because we went to that club following YOU. Who knows saving Clary and earning her trust might've been your plan all along."

"You know that's exactly what I think too. In fact you just took the words right out of my mouth" quipped in Simon which earned him a heated glare from Jace. And then that glare was directed at Chace, only it was more heated when focused on him. Chace didn't cower away though. He only challenged him more.

"What? Cat got your tongue?"

"Chace please calm-" Clary took an attempt to soothe out the situation but failed spectacularly.

"How were you able to kill that demon the other night?" Jace asked, completely going off the topic.

"What we are not gonna prove who's working for Valentine here first? We should deal with one problem at a time don't you think?" Chace goaded Jace with a smirk on his lips.

"Answer the question." It was Alec who said that before Jace could verbally attack the boy.

"I don't know yet. But someone has promised to help me figure it out. I'll let you know when I find out something myself" said Chace but Alec wasn't satisfied with the answer. In fact it made him more suspicious of Chace.

"And who is this person you're speaking of?" Alec asked narrowing his eyes at the boy. It would've satisfied him if Chace had squirmed with discomfort under his scrutinizing gaze but it appeared the boy was already becoming immune to his cold stares.

"A friend" said Chace and that was the only answer he was gonna give these people. At least until he knew more about them and they earned his trust. There was no way he was gonna give away Magnus when he didn't know a thing about these shadowhunter people.

"Chace must be a shadowhunter like me and killing that demon must be a special power of his" said Clary and it did make sense. Kind of.

"Well there's only one way to find out." It was Izzy who said that as she approached Chace with her Stele.

"Woh, what is that?" Chace asked instinctively taking a step back from Izzy.

"It's called a Stele. We can draw runes with this on our body. It gives shadowhunters their powers." Izzy explained and even demonstrated Chace.

"You wanna draw a rune on me?" Chace wasn't sure about this.

"That's the only way to prove that you're a shadow hunter like Clary" said Izzy. Chace looked at Clary and saw a tattoo, no rune on her neck. Clary nodded her head to him as if assuring that he'd be fine. Chace looked back at Izzy and nodded his head as he extended his arm towards her. However, just as Izzy prepared to draw the rune, Simon stopped her.

"Wait. What if he isn't a shadowhunter? You said if a rune is drawn on a normal person, he would turn into a forsaken and then you've to kill them."

"What?" Clary gasped out in shock. Clearly she didn't know about this.

"Are you kidding me?" Chace exclaimed in disbelieve. His eyes going big with shock.

"Well as much as I'd love to find out if I'm a shadowhunter or not but death by tattoo is not on my to do list today." Chace immediately took his hand back from Izzy but only to have Jace grab his arm and forcefully draw a rune on his skin. It had happened so fast that no one saw it coming, let alone stop it from happening.

"Jace what have you done?" Clary gasped out in shock. Simon and Chace himself were shocked too. Their reactions only made Jace roll his eyes at them.

"Relax, he has the sight which means he isn't an ordinary mundane" said Alec. It was almost like he was defending Jace's reckless action. Chace on the other hand was freaking out about the rune killing him.

"Oh my god it's glowing. Why the hell is it glowing? Is this normal? Ah!"

"What? What's happening?" Simon asked freaking out along with Chace. Clary looked no better.

"It's burning. Ah. Is it supposed to feel this way?" Izzy quickly grabbed his arm and inspected the rune. Panic was evident on her face too. Her eyebrows came together as she watched an unbelievable thing happen before her eyes. The rune was slowly vanishing from Chace's skin.

"By the angel. I've never heard of anything like this happening before." Izzy spoke with so much shock and disbelieve in her voice that one could only exhibit when witnessed something phenomenal. And to some extent this incident was phenomenal. Both Alec and Jace came close to take a look themselves. Both of them were dumbfounded when they saw no trace of the rune on Chace's skin anymore. The burning had also stopped.

"Oh thank god!" Chace breathed out feeling relieved. So did Simon and Clary.

"It didn't kill you. You're still human" exclaimed Simon happily as he pulled Chace into a hug. Simon didn't know what he would've done if anything bad had happened to Chace. After all it was becoming friends with him that got the seventeen year old into this mess in the first place. If they hadn't met, Chace wouldn't have come to celebrate Clary's birthday. He wouldn't have gone to that club with Clary. His life would still be normal. To say that Simon felt responsible for Chace was an understatement. Suddenly Chace was ripped away from his arms by Jace and thrown into someone else. That someone else was none other than Alec. The dark haired shadowhunter immediately trapped Chace into a chokehold so that he wouldn't be able to move.

"What the hell man? What are you doing?" Simon yelled but he was completely ignored.

"What the hell are you?" Jace hissed at Chace's face with a dangerous look in his eyes. As if he was ready to kill the boy. Chace felt his heart trying to beat out of his chest. The demon from the other night looked friendly compared to the look Jace was giving him now.

"A seventeen year old high school going boy with two mothers. That's what I am." Chace spoke bravely despite having his neck trapped, and on the verge of pissing his pants.

"Hey, let him go Alec. He clearly doesn't know anything about what he is" said Izzy. Chace was surprised she was defending him instead of siding with her fellow shadowhunters.

"And how do you know that? He could be a very good actor" argued Alec. Clearly he was with Jace on this. Izzy rolled her eyes at her brothers.

"Look you want answers, I'll personally run some tests on him. And Chace will co-operate, won't you Chace?" Chace could only nod his head. What other option did he have? He only hoped Izzy wouldn't turn out to be a crazy scientist or something, and subject him to horrible experiments. Chace took in deep breaths as Alec let him go. Jace still kept glaring at him though.

"Hey can you guys obsess over finding out what Chace is later? We need to find Dot as soon as possible." Clary said getting pissed off with Jace and Alec's behavior. She too was curious about what Chace was but she wasn't gonna treat him like a criminal until proven guilty. Besides, Clary had a feeling that the boy was innocent.

"I don't approve of this mission Jace" said Alec while Simon fawned over Chace to see if he was alright. Okay, that might be a little exaggerated but Alec found it annoying nonetheless.

"See, I told you he wouldn't approve" said Izzy to Jace with a smirk. Alec rolled his eyes at them.

"Look, I spoke with the Clave. They're sending Seelie scouts to search for Valentine but they made it clear, the little girl does not leave the premises." Alec was obviously talking about Clary which pissed her off to no limits.

"Hey, my name is not 'little girl' okay?" Clary snapped back at Alec.

"The guy is bad with names. I told him my name, still he kept calling me mundane." Chace said to Simon but they all obviously heard it, especially Alec who didn't hesitate to glare daggers at Chace.

"Look, I don't care what that Clave thing or you want, I'm going to find Dot." Clary said with determination and she was not gonna change her mind.

"Alec, this warlock could have the answers we need." Jace reasoned with Alec.

"With Valentine's people out there searching for Clary, she's not safe outside alone."

"Jace has a point" said Izzy.

"I have a question." Chace raised his hand as if he was in a class. Both Alec and Jace rolled their eyes.

"What mundane?" Alec asked, putting emphasis on the word mundane just to spite Chace. Chace however decided to be mature here and ignore it.

"From what I'm understanding you want to find Dot who is a warlock so that she can help with finding Clary's mother-"

"We also want to have her safe" interjected Clary.

"Right. Of course. What I want to ask is- finding Clary's mother, is it something that only Dot can do or another warlock will be able to help too?" Chace's question surprised the shadowhunters.

"Why? Do you know another warlock?" Izzy asked.

"I might" replied Chace hesitatingly.

"The friend you told me about, he is a warlock, isn't he?" Alec asked. Chace's silence was all the answer he needed.

"What is he talking about Chace?" Clary asked, wanting to be filled in about this matter. Chace contemplated for a moment and decided to tell the story without giving away Magnus.

"Yesterday, I went back to the club to find some answers. I met a warlock there. He gave me an introduction course on the shadow world. In fact, I've plans of meeting him tonight. I can ask him to help us find Clary's mother. He's three hundred years old, so he's definitely more powerful than Dot. Well unless Dot is older than him." The shadowhunters didn't know whether Chace was pretending to be this naïve or he really was.

"You think this warlock of yours is just gonna help you. Warlocks don't do favors. They provide services, usually in exchange for some heavy payment." Alec informed the idiot, only for Chace to roll his eyes at him.

"I don't think going on a date is that heavy of a payment." Chace blurted out without thinking much about it.

"Excuse me? Date?" It was Simon who exclaimed out loud with disbelieve.

"Didn't you just say it's a he?" Chace raised his eyebrows at Simon as if to ask so? Simon was taken aback for a moment but he quickly recovered.

"So, you're gay?" He awkwardly asked.

"No he's still figuring it out Simon." It was Clary who said that only to have Jace give her a look.

"What are you, his advocate?" Jace retorted but Clare ignored him and turned to Chace.

"Chace, I don't think going on a date with a warlock is a good idea. I mean do you even know him?"

"Besides, we can't let you put your virginity in danger" said Simon with utmost seriousness. Chace on the other hand felt his face heating up. He must look red like tomatoes. And judging by the way Jace and Alec were smirking, he did look flustered.

"Aww isn't he the cutest thing." Izzy's teasing definitely didn't help Chace.

"What's the name of this warlock?" Alec asked sounding ever so serious.

"Just think of him as 'warlock'. It's not like you can remember a name when told." Chace retorted back earning a glare from Alec.

"Look, don't worry about the warlock hurting me okay." This, Chace said to Simon and Clary.

"If he wanted to harm me, he would've done it already. I've spent the entire evening with him yesterday remember. So just tell me whether you want me to ask him for help with finding your mother or not?" Chace asked Clary but before she could say anything, two shadowhunters objected at the same time.

"Absolutely not" said Jace and Alec together. They looked at each other, surprised, clearly one wasn't expecting the other to object.

"Whoever this warlock is could be very dangerous. Telling him anything would put Clary's mother and the mortal cup in more danger." The blonde shadowhunter explained. For some reason he appeared less hostile towards Chace than before. Perhaps it was because of the fact that Chace could possibly be gay, which meant he was no competition for Clary. Still his attitude towards Chace was for from friendly though. And it was doubtful that he would ever be friendly towards the younger boy.

"Besides, you're not leaving this institute until we figure out what you are" said Alec. No it was an order. This made Chace narrow his eyes at him.

"Excuse me? Are you insinuating I'm a prisoner here?" Chace spoke with disbelieve in his voice.

"If that's what you wanna call it." Alec said at once. Both of them were having an intense staring contest and neither of them wanted to look away and admit defeat.

"If Clary can leave the institute then so can I and I'm going to. You can't stop me." Chace was clearly challenging Alec, which the shadowhunter found extremely childish and stupid. More so because Chace clearly had no idea what Alec was capable of doing.

"How about we find out?" said Alec and he clearly sounded smug about it.

"Raj, Aiden take him downstairs and lock him up in a cell." The two shadowhunters who were ordered approached Chace to grab him.

"Hey you can't do this." Simon protested, ready to put himself between Chace and the two shadowhunters.

"I can and I'm doing it. If you don't want to join him then I suggest you stay quiet" said Alec very harshly. Chace was grabbed and he immediately started to struggle. But obviously it was useless.

"Jace please, tell them to stop." Clary requested him. But Jace gave her a look that clearly said, he wasn't going to.

"Alec is doing the right thing here Clary. We have no idea what Chace is. We need to figure it out. Besides, he'll be safe here." Jace tried to make Clary understand.

"No, let go of me!" Chace continue to struggle as best as he could. He should've never come here. What would his mom think if he didn't get back home? She would be worried sick. The thought of his mom only made Chace struggle harder. Unfortunately this only made the situation worse for Chace, as Raj punched his head and knocked him out. As Chace blacked out, his body went limp and he started to fall down but thankfully Aiden caught him before he could hit the floor.

"Chace!" Both Clary and Simon exclaimed with worry. Alec closed his eyes for a second and inhaled a deep breath as if he didn't want this to happen. But knowing that he was doing the right thing here, didn't let him feel much guilt.

"Just take him downstairs" said Alec sounding exasperated. He expertly ignored the glares Clary and Simon were sending his way.

"Alright now let's focus on finding Dot" said Izzy breaking the uneasy and borderline hostile silence between them. Alec mentally thanked his little sister.

"Well you seem to know all the answers" said Alec to Clary who was still glaring daggers at him. But obviously Alec couldn't care less about that.

"Where do you suggest we search?"

"We could start at Dot's apartment in Greenpoint" said Clary. She was worried for Chace and she was going to help him anyway she could but finding Dot was really important and it really couldn't wait. They were already running out of time.

"….And there's this thrift store that she-" Suddenly Clary gasped as her hand touched the pendant around her neck. The one that her mother gave her. She saw visions of Dot. The warlock was running towards Pandemonium.

"What's wrong? What is it?" Jace asked feeling concerned and confused at the same time.

"I um… weirdly I think I know where Dot is" said Clary feeling utterly confused about her ability to see Dot. The only one unfazed was Simon. He was done feeling shocked for the day. The only thing he felt was worried. He was already worried about Clary, and now about Chace too. Simon wished he could stay at the institute with Chace but he couldn't let Clary go alone with these stranger shadowhunter guys who he didn't trust at all. Specially after how they just treated Chace. But Simon was surely coming back for him. He wouldn't let Chace go through whatever the shadowhunters had planned for him alone. With that Simon said-

"Great, I'll drive."


	5. The Shadow World Part-II

**Chapter 5: The Shadow World Part-II**

Chace woke up to find himself in an empty room. No not a room. A cell for prisoners. There were no furniture except for the narrow bed like thing that he was lying on. Chace didn't know how long he was out. For a moment he even panicked thinking the shadowhunters were gonna start torturing him as soon as they realized that he had woken up. Chace could only imagine the horrible things they could do to him. No, he needed to get out of here anyhow. Chace would not let those bastard shadowhunters turn him into a lab rat and do god knows what else. But for Chace to escape, he needed a plan.

Regrettably there was nothing in the room that he could use. Chace checked his pockets and found that they took away his phone and his wallet as well. Of course they weren't gonna leave him those when they wanted to keep him a prisoner here at the institute. Chace forced himself to school down. He couldn't think of a plan if he was freaking out. When Chace was calm enough, he looked around the cell carefully. There was obviously a security camera there, monitoring his every move. He bet they could hear every sound he made as well. They were recording every breath he took. Suddenly an idea popped into Chace's mind. He didn't know if it was gonna work but it was definitely worth a shot. With a plan in mind, Chace abruptly stood up and started acting as if he was talking to someone.

"Oh thank god you're here. Can you believe they've locked me up here? You've to come and get me out of here." Chace rolled his eyes and grunted out in frustration as if he didn't like the response he got.

"Yes, I know you'll probably have to kill a few shadowhunters on your way but it's nothing they don't deserve. In fact, I say it'll serve them right." Then Chace smiled happily.

"I knew you'd agree with me on that. So hurry up and get here. I know walking into the institute will be a piece of cake for you." Chace paused for a moment as if hearing to the reply he was receiving.

"Well then, don't keep me waiting too long. I-" Chace couldn't say more as the door of the cell burst opened and the shadowhunter he recalled the name Raj walked in with aggressive steps. This shadowhunter was the one who knocked out Chace. He was gonna enjoy this. Chace was already enjoying the fact that the shadowhunter took his bet. Obviously there was no one there. He was simply acting it out. Chace knew a few wrong words uttered in the right way would definitely get someone's attention.

"Who were you talking to? Who is coming here?" Raj approached Chace with long strides with a knife in hand. Before the shadowhunter could realize anything, Chace grabbed the knife and cut himself. As his palm bleed he pressed that hand on one of Raj's rune near his neck.

Chace wasn't sure if it would work or not. Earlier when a rune was drawn on his skin, it had burned quite painfully before disappearing. Chace was hoping his blood would affect the rune on another shadowhunter's body as well. Obviously that was only a theory until Raj screamed with pain. Chace quickly grabbed the knife from Raj and watched with both fascination and shock as the rune marred with his blood started to disappear from Raj's skin. And the way the shadowhunter was crying in pain, it was definitely hurting like hell. A lot more than it had hurt the seventeen year old.

Chace didn't waste any more time and dashed out of the open door. He ran down the hall as fast as he could. He needed to find a way to get out of the institute before a group of shadowhunters came to put him back in the cell. Unfortunately Chace didn't have a clue as to where to go in order to get out. He couldn't just run around until he found a way either. Time was of essence here. Chace ran back into the cell where Raj was recovering from the pain. A fear took over the shadowhunter when he saw the boy approaching him. Not to mention, Chace's hand was still bleeding. To say that Raj was fearful of that blood was the understatement of the year.

"Get up." Chace said to the shadowhunter.

"You're gonna help me get out of here." Chace spoke as if it was a piece of cake.

"Go to hell!" Raj spat at him. There was no way he was gonna help this monster.

"Oh really! Very well then. I wonder what my blood would do if it goes down your throat. That demon the other night had exploded. I'm expecting something similarly interesting." With that threat, Chace approached him only for Raj to back away from him.

"No don't. Please." Fear was clearly evident in his eyes. But it was more the fear of the unknown than the fear of the pain that was pouring out of the shadowhunter.

"I'll help. Just don't get your blood on me." As that was settled, Raj helped Chace escape the institute along with his belongings specially his phone. In the end, it turned out to be a piece of cake after all. That or Chace had just got very lucky this time.

* * *

As soon as Chace was far enough from the institute he called Magnus. The warlock answered almost immediately.

"Hey pretty boy, thought you were supposed to come meet me today for more shadow world lessons."

"Magnus, I need your help. The shadowhunters had me locked up in a cell. I just escaped from there." Chace was out of breath as he spoke to Magnus since he was still running as fast as he could.

"How did that happen and how did you escape?" Magnus was concerned and no less intrigued.

"It's a long story. Look I need to get somewhere safe before the shadowhunters start hunting for me. I can't even go home and put my mom in danger." Chace sounded desperate and scared. Speaking of his mom, Chace definitely needed to talk to her. At least send her a message that he wouldn't be coming home tonight. Chace would've to come up with some excuse for staying out though. Needless to say, making excuses for his mom was the least of his problems.

"Chace, calm down. Tell me where you are. I'll come get you. With me is where you'll be safest. Both from demons and shadowhunters alike."

"Okay-" Chace frantically looked around his surroundings.

"I'm near a park." Chace gave as much description of the park as possible.

"Okay, stay right there. I'm coming." With that Magnus hung up. Chace inhaled a deep breath and willed himself to relax. Never in his life, had he thought that one day he would be holding a man hostage in order to escape prison. What had his life has become? Would it be like this from now on? Would he always have to run for his life? Suddenly a glowing doorway appeared before Chace and Magnus stepped out of it.

"Magnus! What is this thing?" Chace asked more fascinated than surprised.

"It's a portal. I'll explain the mechanism later. Now take my hand." Chace held Magnus's hand without wasting a second. The warlock pulled him in. Then one second Chace was standing in front of a park and the next he was inside of a well decorated loft.

"That was awesome!" Chace exclaimed. A huge grin plastered on his face. This magical side made discovering about the shadow world worthwhile despite all the troubles it brought with it.

"Who is he?" A stranger voice asked. Chace looked to find a man with two horns on his forehead. He couldn't help but raise his eyebrows in amazement.

"He's a friend of mine." Magnus replied to the horned guy.

"Hello." Chace said with a smile which sadly was not returned.

"Is he a mundane?" The horned guy asked getting more curious about the boy.

"No Elias. He is-" Magnus glanced at Chace for a second before finishing his sentence.

"Special." By then Chace had noticed many other people occupying the loft right outside the room they were currently in.

"Are you having a party here Magnus?" Chace asked curiously.

"No, love it's not a party. We have a bit of a situation." Magnus told Chace before he turned to Elias.

"Elias would you excuse us for a moment? I need to attend to my young guest here." It seemed Elias didn't want to leave but he didn't have a choice so he left. Magnus turned to Chace only to have the boy hug him tightly.

"Thank you for saving me." And the teen felt genuinely grateful to the warlock.

"I did no such thing cub. You saved yourself and I'd very much like to know how you rescued yourself from the shadowhunters but first-" Magnus took Chace's hand, the one with the huge cut on it. Chace had it poorly wrapped around with a handkerchief that he took from Raj.

"We need to heal you." Magnus worked his magic on his hand but unfortunately the cut didn't heal. It remained unaffected. This troubled Magnus since he never encountered anything like it before.

"I don't understand" said the warlock more to himself than to Chace. The boy frowned at him with confusion.

"What's wrong?" He asked.

"It appears my magic doesn't work on you like this. I'm trying to heal your wound but nothing's happening" explained Magnus, a troubled expression etched on his face.

"But then how was I able to travel through that portal thing?" Chace asked curiously. He already knew shadowhunter runes didn't work on him. Now warlock magic as well? It seemed Chace was a freak among freaks.

"Portals are different. Any being could travel through portals. It is also dangerous because if you don't know where you're going you could forever get lost in a limbo." This made Chace raise his eyebrows at Magnus.

"I didn't know where I was coming to just now."

"But I was with you to guide you" replied Magnus. Then the warlock walked over to a shelf and he started searching for things. When he was done finding them all, he returned to Chace with a bunch of things in his hands.

"My apologies for not having any mundane first aid box but these should do just fine." With that explanation Magnus started to treat Chace's hand.

"Now as I do this, tell me everything that has happened. Leave nothing out." So Chace told Magnus everything. How an asshole shadowhunter took him to the institute and then imprisoned him for no good reason. How Chace's brilliant mind came up with a brilliant plan. Well the plan worked hence it was brilliant. Don't argue it. Chace told Magnus how he threatened a different asshole shadowhunter with his blood and made him help him escape from the institute. And the rest was history.

"So, now we know three things about your blood. One it can kill demons. Two it can destroy shadowhunter runes. And three it nullifies warlock magic as well." Magnus sounded as intrigued as he was fascinated.

"And I'm definitely not a shadowhunter even though I've the sight" said Chace. Truth to be told, he wasn't sad about not being a shadowhunter. After how they treated him, Chace hardly felt any loss about not being one of them.

"All supernatural beings have the sight. And you're definitely a supernatural being. We just don't know what yet" said Magnus.

"What if I'm the only one of my kind? What if I'm an entirely new species?" Chace sounded way too excited about it and Magnus being the mature responsible one here, had to dial it down a bit.

"Let's not get ahead of ourselves." It surely made Chace pout but Magnus stood his ground. Magnus Bane was the high warlock of Brooklyn. He would not, absolutely would not let a boy get his way with him simply by pouting adorably. It'd never happen. Nope.

"I've never heard of a new species emerge like this in the shadow world. But then again, very little is impossible in our realm. We definitely need to do some research" said Magnus. Unspoken but certainly giving into this idea. Even if just a little bit.

"I couldn't agree more. We should figure out what I'm before the shadowhunters declare me as a threat to humanity" said Chace, inhaling and then exhaling a deep breath.

"So, what's this situation you're having here?" Chace asked as he remembered Magnus mentioning it earlier.

"It's Jocelyn Fairchild. Clary's mother. She had a plan which has failed spectacularly" said Magnus and he couldn't stop himself from rolling his eyes.

"Tell me." Chace urged Magnus to give him details. And so the warlock began to narrate the long history between the shadowhunters and the downworlders.

* * *

**New York Institute**

Clary, Jace, Alec and Izzy returned to the institute from the silent brothers. They had a huge problem. Actually they had several huge problems. One of them being, Simon getting kidnapped by vampires. The night children had demanded the mortal cup for the return of Simon. Another problem was Clary being Valentine's daughter. Alec's distrust in her had only gotten stronger after hearing about that. It irritated the hell out of him to see Jace and Izzy still dancing to her tune. Why couldn't they just listen to him and consider his reasons for not trusting Clary?

"I still don't understand how can shadowhunters be better than what you call mundane?" Yes, Clary was pissed and sad and angry but most of all scared for her best friend Simon.

"Because we protect humans" replied Izzy which wasn't the smartest thing to say given the situation.

"You're right. Humans. You protect humans. You left Simon all alone in the van. Great job guys, you rock." Clary sarcastically applauded them for doing absolutely nothing as the vampires got to Simon and took him away. God knew how he was at the moment. Was he getting tortured? Were those vampires gonna turn him?

"There is some truth to the idea human beings should have a modicum of common sense." Clearly Alec felt no regret for being unable to protect one human for ten minutes. He kept being his usual condescending self. Clary didn't hesitate to glare angrily at him.

"Alec not now!" It was Izzy who stopped her brother from antagonizing Clary more. She knew the newbie shadowhunter was about to lost it and burst with anger.

"Look they won't do anything to Simon." Jace assured, not that it helped Clary feel any relief.

"They just wanted to draw you out. They want the cup and they think you have it."

"But why do they think that? Why does anyone think that?" Clary really couldn't understand these people.

"What, my mom lies to me my entire life except, 'Oh by the way there's this magic cup, I hid on like the planet Bongo but don't tell anyone.' What am I supposed to do now?" Clary sighed out heavily, feeling helpless.

"We have to report to the Clave." Alec stated as he started to walk ahead, others immediately took to following him.

"Great" came from Jace.

"They have to know we've learned about Valentine" said Alec but Clary couldn't let him do that yet.

"What, that he's my father? Great. Fine. Tell them. What good does that do Simon?"

"Clary, it's all connected. The vamps want the cup" explained Jace which only made Clary more confused.

"Why? It makes new shadowhunters."

"Nobody wants Valentine forming an army loyal to himself" answered Alec.

"Plus it controls demons" added Izzy.

"They'll propose a trade. Simon for the cup." Jace explained the situation to Clary.

"So, vampires will trade Simon for the cup and Valentine will trade my mother for the cup. Either way I lose someone I love" said Clary exhaling a deep breath. She was losing hope with each passing second.

"What if I just toss it up in the air and let them fight it out among themselves?" Clary was indeed tempted to do just that.

"So this doesn't matter to you?" Alec questioned her and Clary couldn't believe the nerve of him.

"Yes, of course it matters!" She snapped at him angrily.

"Listen, when you saved my life I put my trust in you. Now I need you to put your trust in me. I can't turn into what you are overnight."

"It's true. She was raised as a mundane." Izzy agreed with Clary to which Alec rolled his eyes at.

"What are you, her spokesman now?" The elder Lightwood retorted sarcastically.

"I don't need a spokesman. I need a plan" said Clary, avidly aware that they didn't have one. But then she remembered what Chace had said to them about knowing a warlock who he could ask for help. Clearly the shadowhunters had no solid plan of rescuing Simon. In fact they weren't even attempting to come up with a plan. Clary realized she needed to do it herself. And hopefully Chace's warlock would be willing to help her. However, there was one problem. After how Chace was locked up, she wasn't sure anymore if Chace would want to help. But it wasn't her fault he got locked up. Besides, Chace seemed to care about Simon. At least for his sake, Chace should want to help. But first Clary needed to get him out of the cell.

"First thing first. Let Chace out." Clary said this directly to Alec.

"Why? What's he gonna do?" The acting head of the institute inquired. There was no way he was letting that boy, whatever he was, out without good reason.

"He can help. He did say he has a warlock friend remember." Clary reminded Alec. He immediately wanted to protest but Izzy interrupted him.

"It's worth a shot Alec. We don't have very many options available. Besides, Simon was taken on our watch. It's our responsibility to get him back unharmed. If a warlock helps us, it'll be much easier and faster."

"How do you even know the kid's telling the truth about having a warlock friend?" Alec really didn't want to comply with Clary's wish here. She already had Jace and Izzy wrapped around her fingers.

"Well, there's only one way to find out" said Jace. Of course he would be on board with Clary's plan. Alec couldn't roll his eyes enough times.

* * *

As the group entered the center area of the institute, Alec was immediately made aware of a situation he couldn't believe was possible.

"The prisoner has escaped sir." It was Aiden who informed him. It was clear who he was talking about. Chace Williams. As Alec looked at the other shadowhunters he realized everyone was having a hard time believing that someone was able to escape from the institute so successfully.

"How the hell did that happen?" Jace asked. Clearly he couldn't believe it either.

"He tricked us sir" replied Aiden. The shadowhunter couldn't help stuttering a little as he said it.

"Come again?" Alec asked. His voice full of disbelieve. The situation was becoming more unbelievable by the second. It was one thing for a very powerful being to escape from the institute but to trick a dozen of shadowhunters. How did the boy even manage to pull it off?

"The boy started talking to someone right after he woke up. Raj was on monitoring the prisoner. He thought the boy was communicating with someone magically so he went to check. As soon as he entered, the boy made himself bleed on his dagger and attacked Raj with his blood. He made one of his runes disappear. Raj said the pain was quite excruciating. Then the boy scared Raj into helping him escape. Raj is not at fault here sir. I was supposed to monitor the boy along with him but I wanted to do some training exercises so I left. I'm prepared to take whatever punishment you give me sir. It's my fault for underestimating the boy. If I had been monitoring him along with Raj, he couldn't have escaped. I would've realized that the boy was merely pretending to speak to someone. I'm the one who searched the boy when he was unconscious and found nothing suspicious on him. There was no way for him to communicate with anyone. But Raj didn't know this." It was clear Aiden felt ashamed for not doing his job properly.

"After he escaped, we were able to track his footprint up to a nearby park but then he disappeared from there without leaving any trace behind. I believe he indeed had help from a warlock after all." Aiden finished his report. Alec didn't say anything to him. He only inhaled and exhaled a deep breath.

"How is Raj?" Alec inquired.

"Shaken from having his rune disappear. No other side effect is detected yet. We've collected samples of the boy's blood. He had bled quite a lot when he cut himself on Raj's dagger."

"I'll get on that right away" said Izzy, talking about the blood samples of course.

"Go take care of Raj. Report to me immediately if he starts showing any side effects" saying that Alec dismissed Aiden then turned to his siblings.

"I was right in locking him up. He's dangerous." Alec ran a hand over his face showing clear sign of frustration.

"Chace is smart. Not dangerous. You locked him up for no reason. Why wasn't he gonna try and run away?" Clary unabashedly defended Chace and didn't flinch even a little when Alec glared laser beams at her. If only it was possible to kill someone with glare alone. Clary would've died the most painful death at the moment.

"He must've gone to his warlock friend." Clary said to herself ignoring Alec and the other two shadow hunters staring at her. Clary pulled out her phone and dialed Chace's number.

"Yeah, as if he's gonna pick up your call after running away from here." Jace snorted at Clary's action with a roll of his eyes. But had to shut his trap when Chace indeed answered the call.

"Clary, hey what's up?" Chace sounded as if he was having the most normal day of his life. As if he wasn't locked up in a prison not long ago.

"What's up? Are you kidding me? Where the hell are you?" Clary asked as the shadowhunters listened in on their conversation with utmost attention.

"I'm assuming you already know I escaped the institute prison. It was a piece of cake really" said Chace and boy he sounded smug about it. Alec felt like reaching through the phone and snap his neck right then and there.

"Chace, tell me where you are?" Clary insisted again and heard Chace sigh out loudly.

"Clary, you know I can't tell you where I am right now. Those douche-bags are making you ask me this, aren't they?" Before Clary could do anything the phone was snatched away from her.

"Listen you little runt. I don't need your friend's help to find you but I will definitely find you. And when I do, you're gonna be sorry you were ever born." Alec never threatened anyone like this before. It seemed this Chace kid brought the worst out of him. Chace was ready to fire away his own piece but Clary took back her phone.

"Chace, forget about Alec. Simon's in trouble." She quickly said before Chace decided to end the call or another shadowhunter decided to take the phone from her to threaten him.

"What happened?" Chace asked, sounding serious this time. So, Clary quickly explained the situation to him. How they went to the silent brothers' to retrieve Clary's memories back, only to lose Simon to vampires. And that they wouldn't return him unless Clary handed them the mortal cup which no one knew the location of. The location of that cup was hidden in Clary's lost memories. Even if she could remember and found the cup, handing over the cup to vampires or anyone one else was a big no no.

"Chace, I don't know what to do. I just know that I have to save Simon no matter what." Clary spoke frantically. Desperation was dripping from her voice.

"Clary, you need to calm down. Nothing will happen to Simon. We'll get him back." Chace spoke confidently which lessened Clary's anguished quite a bit. It was the way Chace spoke that affected Clary positively. She was able to calm down a little and think more clearly.

"Do you have any clue as to who the vampire is who took Simon?" Chace asked. He needed more information in order to help.

"I don't know Chace. I can't even recall much about that vampire. Everything happened so fast. For all I know Simon could be in some kind of a crypt in Transylvania by now." Clary explained. Hopelessness trying to engulf her mind again. Thankfully Izzy came to the rescue then.

"Hey it's Izzy. The vampires that took Simon are locals. They're at the Hotel DuMort down in Gansevoort Street." Izzy said to Chace taking the phone from Clary much to Alec and Jace's chagrin. Obviously they didn't want Chace involved in this. The only thing they wanted from Chace was to have him locked up in the institute cell again. Specially Alec.

"We want to save Simon but the vampires haven't technically broken any laws of the accords. I doubt the Clave will give us permission to move against them. And if we do this on our own without the Clave's knowledge then it can-" Izzy was cut off by Chace before she could say more.

"You've already done enough. Letting those vampires get to Simon was a big help." Chace's voice dripped with sarcasm as he spoke to Isabelle. If anyone thought that since Simon was in dangerous now, Chace was miraculously over the fact that the shadowhunters had imprisoned him for no reason, they thought wrong. Very wrong. And since Izzy was a shadowhunter, despite being the one who pissed off Chace the least among all the shadowhunters he had met so far, didn't mean he was going to be all nice with her.

"I'll take it from here." Chace stated with finality. Izzy didn't give up though.

"And what are you gonna do? Ask your warlock friend to come to the rescue of your other friend? Wait, didn't he just help with rescuing you? Are you sure he'll be willing to help you again so soon? You know Chace, a friend he maybe but he's still a warlock. Ask too many favors of him and he'll get rid of you before you know it or make you pay a price that you'd regret paying." Chace remained silent hence Izzy thought she was getting through to him. So she continued to speak.

"Look, I've a plan. But we need to work together for it to work."

"And that plan would be?" Chace halfheartedly asked as if he already knew he wasn't gonna consider the plan even before hearing it.

"I'd like to discuss the plan in person Chace. Let's meet somewhere. I promise my brother won't do anything" said Izzy immediately receiving a look from Alec which she completely ignored. Chace remained quiet for a moment before sighing out heavily. As if giving in.

"Sure, why not? Perhaps I was too quick in judging the shadowhunters. This could be a chance for us to give each other a fresh start and hopefully we get along better this time." Chace spoke with such enthusiasm that Izzy had really believed him.

"Really?!" She said almost happily only to have Chace make her feel like an idiot the very next second.

"Of course NOT!"

"I'd have to have demon venom poisoning me to let your brother or any shadowhunter within 500 feet radius of me. Oh right even demon venom wouldn't do the trick. You know since they don't work on me." Chace didn't shy away from being smug about his ability or hesitate to rub it in the shadowhunters' faces. Izzy rolled her eyes. She glanced at her brothers. Both Alec and Jace were glaring at the phone heatedly.

"Look Chace, Clary is on the verge of going off on her own to save Simon. She will not only get herself killed but Simon as well. So if you care about them, stop being petty just for tonight okay." This time Izzy snapped at Chace. She clearly lost her patience with him.

"Tell me your plan. If you want me on board, you need to tell me now." This time Chace spoke seriously. Izzy realized she hadn't any other choice.

"Well as you already know, your blood is quite dangerous. We can use that to our advantage. No vampire would dare to bite you or spill your blood if we can convince them that it's lethal for them. With your help we can simply walk in Hotel DuMort and get to Simon."

"No, this is too dangerous. Vampires can still hurt him without making him bleed." Clary immediately protested against this plan.

"That's why we will be right there with him. To protect him from getting hurt. Besides, something tells me Chace will be able to scare and confuse the vampires long enough that we will be able to grab Simon and get out of there even before they can attack us. Chace had one of our own scared to death. He can pull it off. Can't you Chace?" Izzy knew if anyone could do it, it was Chace. After all how many could say they had successfully escaped the institute prison? Not to mention without leaving causalities behind or sustaining serious damage to oneself.

"I can. At least I hope so" said Chace.

"Give Clary the phone please." Chace requested. Izzy handed Clary her phone back.

"Yes Chace." Clary definitely wasn't happy with this plan. The tone of her voice made it clear.

"Answer me this Clary, do you really want to save Simon? Want him out of danger? Out of the vampires' clutches?" Chace asked with utmost seriousness.

"What kind of a question is that Chace? Of course I do." Clary couldn't even believe, she was asked this.

"Then there's only one thing you need to do" said Chace. His tone was so firm that it compelled Clary to hold her breath and listen to him intently.

"Make sure that the shadowhunters stay away from the Hotel DuMort. I'll go there with Magnus and rescue Simon. Magnus is a very powerful warlock, those vampires wouldn't stand a chance against him. And yes, he's willing to help. He's already heard every word we spoke. And he too doesn't want the shadowhunters getting involved. Do you understand me Clary?"

"But Chace, Simon is my best friend. I want to come too to rescue him." Clary insisted.

"Help him by keeping those shadowhunters from coming after me okay. I mean it Clary. If Magnus senses them there, he'd be pissed. And you don't want that." The graveness of the situation wasn't lost on Clary. Hence she reluctantly agreed.

"Okay fine. But promise me you'll call me if anything goes wrong. And let me know as soon as Simon is safe" said Clary. Not liking giving in but what else could she do.

"Simon will be safe Clary. I promise." With that Chace hung up. Clary closed her eyes and inhaled a deep breath.

"There you go. You didn't wanna go save Simon, now you don't have to." Clary said this while turning around to face the other three shadowhunters in the room, only to stop and frown in confusion.

"Where is Alec?" She asked. And it was when Clary asked that did Jace and Izzy realized too that Alec wasn't with them anymore. Both of them looked equally puzzled.

"Please tell me he has just gone to his room and not to the hotel DuMort." Clary said this while knowing full well, that was exactly where Alec had gone. She felt like cursing out loud. Oh Simon! When would the situation stop getting worse? Well the answer was NEVER.


	6. Rescuing Simon

**Chapter 6: Rescuing Simon**

Chace inhaled a deep breath and exhaled quietly. To say that he was nervous would be the understatement of the century. There he was standing across the street from the hotel DuMort and planning to rescue Simon which if thought logically seemed utterly impossible because Chace was actually completely on his own here. The seventeen year old had lied to Clary about Magnus being willing to help rescue Simon. It wasn't that Magnus had refused to help Chace. In fact the warlock had no idea about Simon or that Chace was planning on saving him all alone. If Magnus knew, he would've definitely helped and never let Chace come to the hotel on his own. But Chace didn't want to involve Magnus in this. He already had a lot going on. With Valentine hunting down warlocks, Magnus wouldn't be safe outside his layer. The last thing Chace wanted was to drag Magnus outside and risk putting his life in danger. Just because Magnus was a helpful guy and had a soft spot for Chace, didn't mean Chace would exploit it. That wasn't who he was.

Regrettably, by not asking Magnus for help Chace had set out on a suicide mission. There was no other way of putting it. Chace was indeed aware of the impossibility of what he was intending to achieve here. He wasn't stupid. Standing in front of the hotel 'doom', Chace forced himself to come in terms with the fact that he might not walk out of the establishment alive. He felt the urge to call his mothers. Talk to them. Tell them how much he loved them and that he was sorry for what he was about to do. His sudden disappearance would certainly hurt them. And if his body was discovered then his mothers would be devastated. But alas he couldn't talk to them. They would immediately find out something was wrong and Lindsey would try to find him. Rosalie would be worried sick. Chace couldn't have them involved in the shadow world. This world was too dangerous. After hearing Valentine's story from Magnus the danger of the shadow world was all too clear to Chace.

The boy inhaled another long and deep breath. So what was the plan here? Truth to be told, Chace had no plan. The only thing he could think of doing was go inside the hotel and hand himself over to the vampires in Simon's place. Chace knew thanks to his mysterious blood the vampires wouldn't be able to drink from him or torture him. He'd have a better chance at surviving the vamps than Simon. Chace could only imagine what Simon must be going through right now. The things the vampires must be doing to him. No, Chace had to get him out of there. If the vampires didn't let Simon go willingly after having Chace as hostage then the seventeen year old would do anything he could to help Simon escape; even if it meant Chace would have to bleed himself to death for that.

Many would wonder why Chace was willing to die for someone he literary met a week ago? He and Simon weren't best friends since childhood like Simon and Clary were. No one would fault him if he didn't want to put his own life in danger for Simon. Hell even ten or twenty years of friendship sometimes didn't inspire sacrifice of that magnitude. True that Chace knew Simon for a very short time but still there was a bond between them, in fact there was a bond between all three of them, Chace, Simon and Clary as well and that was because of the experience they went through together. Discovering an entire world together was no small feat. An experience like that would bring anyone closer despite the amount of time the involved people knew about each other. It was for the sake of this bond that Chace was willing to risk his life for Simon.

Also there was something Chace's downworlder teacher, aka Magnus Bane taught him despite the warlock not intending to teach it and that was, 'you don't need to know someone well in order to help them. If you can sense that someone needs your help and you are able to help then you should even if the person is a total stranger to you'. Magnus didn't hesitate to care about Chace even though they just met. Not to mention, Chace had no qualms about taking help from Magnus either. So if Chace could take help from a stranger, then he couldn't avert his eyes and stay away when someone else needed his help.

Chace inhaled one last deep breath to clear his mind. Yes, he was prepared to do this. With determination Chace started to walk towards the hotel entrance. The entrance door was only a few steps away when Chace felt someone grabbing him and sped away from the hotel. It all happened so fast, like in a blink of an eye fast, that Chace couldn't understand anything. What the hell was going on? Was he attacked by a vampire? One second he was about to enter the hotel and the next second Chace was in a dark alley, pushed up against a wall and a tall figure looming over him.

"Got you" said the person thanks to whom Chace's head was spinning. He had to vehemently shake his head in order to snap out of the dizziness. It was only then Chace was able to see properly but what he saw or rather who he saw, pissed off Chace to no end.

"You!" He spat out in anger.

"Clary was supposed to keep you from coming here" said Chace angrily. Clearly she failed. Alec snorted hearing that.

"You really think 'she' could stop me from doing something. Clearly you overestimated her" said Alec, making Chace roll his eyes at him.

"You harmed one of my people. I should kill you right now" said Alec and the seriousness in his voice clearly indicated that he wasn't kidding.

"And what's stopping you? Go ahead, kill me. You shadowhunters think you're so superior but look at you. You simply wish to get rid of me, harm me just because you don't understand what I am. Doesn't make you much different from mundanes if you ask me."

"Well then help me understand." Alec snapped at Chace. Clearly he didn't appreciate being compared to mundanes.

"Come back to the institute with me. Let us find out what you are." Chace understood there was no way he could get to Simon without getting rid of this shadowhunter first.

"I don't have time for this. I need to go save Simon. You can drag me back to the institute and lock me up all you want after Simon is safe. And don't forget it was your fault Simon was taken in the first place. So the least you can do is not get in my way. Your desire to turn me into a lab rat can wait" said Chace and he tried to walk away from Alec but obviously the shadowhunter had other plans. Alec put his hand on the wall to block Chace's advances to leave.

"Oh yes, you're going to rescue the mundane along with your warlock friend, right? So, where is he?" Alec asked and for dramatic effects, he looked left and right. They both knew there was no warlock lurking around in the shadows nearby.

"He isn't here, is he?" Alec stated. Chace jutted out his bottom lip and stubbornly remained silent. He refused to reply the shadowhunter.

"Let me guess, your warlock refused to help, didn't he?" Alec said snobbishly. The jibe 'I told you so' was at the tip of his tongue. Chace couldn't stay quiet this time. This arrogant shadowhunter was pointing fingers at Magnus.

"Of course not. Magnus isn't here because he doesn't know. I didn't tell him anything. I lied to Clary about him knowing. In fact, I had to sneak out of his place to come here otherwise he'd never let me leave without coming along with me. But Valentine is out there hunting warlocks and the last thing I want is to put his life in danger." Chace defended Magnus like the faithful devotee he was.

"Wait a minute, your warlock's name is Magnus. As in Magnus Bane?" Alec was shocked to say the least. Of course he knew who Magnus was even though Alec never met him in person. Being a shadowhunter, it was hard not to know the name Magnus Bane who happened to be the high warlock of Brooklyn.

"I'm assuming you have a problem with that too but I really couldn't care less. Every second you're keeping me here, Simon might be getting tortured by those vampires. Let. Me. go!" Chace spoke with command in his voice but sadly it didn't work on Alec.

"What do you think you can possibly do all by yourself? You're only gonna get yourself killed and that mundane too." Chace scoffed out a sarcastic laugh hearing that.

"You almost sounded as if you'd care if anything happen to either one of us" said Chace.

"I don't" was Alec's instant response.

"I know." Chace shot back too.

"I have a plan. So shoo!" Chace once again attempted to get away only to have Alec put both his hands on the wall and encage Chace completely. There was only a little space remaining between them. So up close, Chace struggled not to notice the mesmerizing color of Alec's eyes or how long his eyelashes were or the fullness of his lips. Alec Lightwood was without any doubt a fine specimen. If only he hadn't such a shitty personality.

"If you want me to let you go then tell me this grand plan of yours" said Alec. Maybe it was just Chace but did Alec's voice become a little husky? It certainly threatened to send a shiver down Chace's spine, although in a good way. And the way he said it, with so much authority, Chace could tell there was no way around. The seventeen year old inhaled a sharp breath. Damn, this shadowhunter could get on his nerve like no one else. And manage to give him butterflies at the same time which only pissed off Chace even more.

"I'm gonna get in the hotel and help Simon escape" said Chace. Alec waited for him to say more. Surely there was more. But unfortunately that was it.

"That's it? That's your plan?" Alec asked with disbelieve in his voice. Chace simply nodded his head.

"You do realize that's not a plan at all. It's plain suicide. What the hell are you thinking?" The kid was seriously getting on Alec's nerves.

"I'm thinking, actually hoping would be the right word here that the vampires would be interested in taking me as hostage and let Simon go. They aren't interested in Simon. They only want the cup. If I can convince them that they can achieve the goal with having me as their hostage too... They won't be able to drink my blood so I'll be able to last longer with them. Long enough to come up with a plan to escape." Chace explained to Alec unwillingly.

"What if they keep both of you hostage? In fact that's exactly what they'll do" said Alec knowing that to be a certain possibility.

"I won't let that happen. I'll find out a way to get Simon out of there." Chace said confidently which Alec found incredibly stupid. It was obvious that Chace had no solid plan here. He was only hoping that whatever stupid move he pulled once inside the hotel that it'd work in his favor. Clearly being able to escape from the institute had gotten to his head. But Alec doubted Chace would be so lucky this time. No to mention, the kid had no idea what he was dealing with here.

Alec removed his hands from the wall and stood up straight instead of hovering over Chace. For a second, Chace hated that Alec was so much taller than him. It was as if he was looking down at him. Alec on the other hand, inhaled sharply and appeared to have made up his mind regarding something.

"I can't believe I'm saying this but I'll help. There's no way you can rescue the mundane on your own" said Alec which shocked Chace to no limit. He never expected the shadowhunter to offer help. Was he hallucinating all on a sudden? He could be.

"Are you seriously offering help?" The tone of disbelieve in Chace's voice irked Alec. He glared at him for that.

"That's what I just said, didn't I? Now shut up and listen" said the shadowhunter. Alec had a plan that was infinitely better than Chace's plan which to be honest was no plan at all.

* * *

Chace once again walked towards the hotel entrance. This time far more confident than he was previously. Upon entry Chace met with no resistance, however the air in the hotel told him that the vampires were aware of his presence in the building. Chace could feel eyes on him. He knew that the vampires were waiting to see what he'd do.

"Hello! My name is Chace. I'm Simon's friend. Can I please speak with the vampire who has taken him?" Chace spoke to the empty space. No one responded to him. Were they trying to make him think that the building was abandoned?

"Please, I really need to talk to him. I've come unarmed. I'm just a regular mundane who found out about the shadow world just two days ago. There's no reason to fear me." Chace said and this time he got a response.

"Fear you? That's the funniest thing I've ever heard. In what universe a vampire fears a mundane?" A pale looking person came into Chace's view. Even if Chace didn't know anything about the shadow world, he'd have still doubted this person to be a vampire. He was just that pale.

"Right. It's just you weren't coming out so I assumed- anyway, are you the vampire who kidnapped my friend Simon?" Chace spoke quite causally as if he conversed with vampires on a regular basis. Truth to be told, Chace would have had his heart trying to beat out of his chest right now if not for the fact that he knew the shadowhunter had his back. Chace had no reason to trust Alec. And he wasn't completely trusting him. Not really. But having this thought that he wasn't completely on his own like he was before was helping Chace keep his emotions in check.

"Yes. Why have you come here? You want to become a hostage too?" The vampire asked. There was a hint of sarcasm in his voice.

"Wait, can you read my mind? Because that's exactly why I'm here. So would you kindly take me to whatever dungeon you're keeping Simon locked up in?" Saying that Chace waited as the vampire eyed him up and down, and then gave him a look as if he was crazy.

"What game are you playing mundane?" The vampire hissed at him angrily as he started to circle Chace like a predator.

"Game? There's no game. I've just come here to be with my friend. You know give him mental support. Simon freaks out easily. And you don't wanna deal with him when he's having a breakdown, trust me. If I'm with him, he'd give you a lot less trouble. I assure you. Besides, I'm a normal mundane. What could I possibly do against a clan of vampires?"

"Are you a friend of Clary Fairchild as well boy?" The vampire asked to which Chace nodded his head.

"Yes, yes of course. See you can only benefit by having me here. If I'm here too along with Simon, Clary will be twice much motivated to give you the mortal cup. That's what you are actually after right?" The vampire thought about it for a moment. He still believed the mundane was playing a game here but he was curious to see what it was.

"Come with me. Camille will decide what to do with you?" Saying that the vampire led Chace to the elevator.

* * *

Instead of a dungeon Chace was taken to the top floor of the hotel. And when he entered the suit, the sight that greeted him wasn't one he was expecting at all. Instead of being tied down and looking beaten up, Simon was sitting on a couch and full on making out with a woman who was no doubt a vampire. Both their mouths were covered in blood. It was hard to tell who was drinking whose blood. Not to mention, Simon looked kind of high. Scratch that, he was high and appeared to be having the time of his life.

"This isn't what I was expecting." Chace said to himself.

"What were you expecting? Don't answer that." The vampire stopped him as soon as Chace opened his mouth to answer.

"Now, what did you bring in Raphael?" The woman asked without looking up. She was too busy eating Simon's face. Simon also didn't notice Chace since he was too busy being lost in the throes of pleasure.

"This mundane here is that mundane's friend and Clary Fairchild's as well" said Raphael. Hearing that the woman looked up. She smirked when she laid her eyes on Chace.

"Friend of Clary Fairchild o where have you been hiding? If I had known about you, I'd have gotten you instead. No offense to your friend but he's a bit of a wimp" said the woman showing her sharp fangs to Chace. He wanted to take a step back but Chace stomped on his instinct and stayed rooted on the spot. It wouldn't do well for him to show fear.

"Chace is that you? But how can you be here? Am I seeing things?" Simon finally noticed Chace but he was too high to believe what he was seeing. Chace glanced at him for a moment before looking back at the vampire.

"Well I'm here now. So how about you let him go?" Chace demanded. He no longer bothered to be humble as he was with Raphael. After all he already found Simon. And he was glad to find him in a much better state than expected.

"Now why would I do that when I can keep you both?" The woman stepped so close to Chace, she was literary invading his personal space. She was about to touch Chace's face with her long and sharp nails when Raphael spoke up.

"Camille, this mundane is up to something. I can tell." He said. The vampire named Camille only smirked knowingly.

"Of course he is up to something. Why don't you tell me what that is darling?" She asked Chace. Clearly she was using her persuading power on Chace that Alec had warned him about. Chace was thankful to find that it didn't work on him.

"I'm only here to help my friend" said Chace sincerely but Camille was no fool. She realized her incanto didn't work on Chace. Camille's face darkened immediately.

"You're no ordinary mundane. What are you?" She asked with hostility. Her flirtatious behavior had evaporated as she felt threatened. This time Chace smirked at her.

"No, I'm a mundane but a mundane who is friends with Magnus Bane. I believe you know who he is" said Chace.

"Magnus Bane!" It was Raphael who exclaimed with disbelieve while Camille eyed Chace bitterly.

"You're lying." He accused.

"I can give him a call and have him talk to you if you'd like" said Chace with utter confidence since it was after all the truth. Camille hissed at Chace and attempted to attack him only to have Raphael come between them.

"Camille stop. You don't wanna hurt him and risk angering Magnus. You of all people should know how protective he is of his friends" said Raphael. The way he spoke, it was clear that this vampire Raphael knew Magnus very well. In fact, it seemed Camille knew Magnus too. Chace on the other hand was disappointed that Camille wasn't able to hurt him. He needed to bleed. He needed to get his blood on these vampires. Chace couldn't bring any sharp thing with him in case he was searched before taken to Simon.

"I still don't understand what a Magnus Bane is" said Simon in a drowsy voice that everyone ignored. Chace on the other hand started thinking. If the vampires weren't gonna hurt him and make him bleed somehow then he needed another plan.

"Let my friend go and I promise Magnus wouldn't hear about any of this. I'll even be a good little hostage for you until Clary gives you the cup. How's that?" Little did Chace know that he just dug his own grave by making this offer to Camille? Though he immediately started having a bad feeling about it when Camille gave him a bone chilling smile.

"Alright. I'll let your friend go given that you stay here with me. Also you need to ask your 'friend' Magnus to give me Clary Fairchild's memories. Your friend here has already told me that Clary doesn't know where the cup is; that her memories had been taken. I know Magnus took it. Hence he is the one who is in possession of it."

_"Great!"_ Chace mentally slapped himself for his stupidity. Of course he already knew Magnus had taken Clary's memories on her mother's request. He just didn't think Camille knew about it too. Chace thought the vampires still believed that Clary knew where the cup was. Damn it!

"Fine. But let Simon go first. I'll talk to Magnus only when I'm assured that he is safe." Getting Simon out of here was still Chace's first priority. He thought Camille would argue but the woman gave in. Clearly Simon was of no use to her anymore. Chace was what she needed to get what she wanted now.

"Raphael, be a dear and escort the mundane out of the hotel" said Camille. Raphael rolled his eyes, clearly irritated at having to deal with the mundane again but he complied anyway.

* * *

Raphael helped Simon stand up and walked him to the elevator. Simon kept talking non-sense non-stop the whole way that Raphael had tuned out as much as possible. At one point Simon even struggled against Raphael and refused to leave without Chace. Simon maybe high but he still had enough sense to realize that Chace was in danger now. It didn't take them long to reach the exit of the hotel. As soon as Raphael walked out of the hotel with Simon, he was surrounded by the shadowhunters.

Alec, Izzy, Jace and Clary all had their weapons pointed at Raphael. The vampire hissed at them. Alec was supposed to be alone but obviously as soon as the others realized that he had come to the hotel DuMort, they had followed. When Jace, Clary and Izzy got here, they found Alec waiting on top of the roof of a building. He told them, he was waiting for a signal from Chace. Alec already knew Chace was at the top floor of the hotel since he was keeping track of him. Hopefully Simon was there as well. Upon receiving the signal Alec meant to create a huge distraction outside to draw most of the vampires out of the hotel while he sneaked inside. Since the sun was hours away from rising, the vampires wouldn't have any problem coming outside. Shockingly a signal from Chace never came but Simon came outside along with the vampire that had kidnapped him in the first place.

"Let him go!" Clary said to Raphael threateningly. She was ready to kill him if she needed to.

"I'd be happy to. After you drop your weapons" said Raphael. He wasn't foolish enough to let Simon go and have the hunters gut him.

"Look, I don't want any trouble. I was gonna let him go anyway. This is all Camille's doing. I got nothing to do with this." Raphael explained himself but obviously the shadowhunters weren't just gonna say 'it's okay. We're good man'.

"If you don't want any trouble with the shadowhunters then let him go" said Jace. The shadowhunters lowered their weapons but didn't put them down though. Raphael knew even without weapons, one against four was too much for him to handle. There was no way for him to get away if they wanted to attack him. Deciding not to test their patience any longer, he let Simon go. Still feeling dizzy, Simon dragged himself towards his best friend. Clary rushed to him quickly and engulfed him in a tight embrace. Feeling utterly relieved that he was alright.

Raphael used their momentary distraction to escape back inside the hotel. Clary couldn't care less about that. She immediately jumped into checking if Simon was hurt anywhere and if he was alright, well as alright as he could be after such an experience. Jace couldn't help but avert his eyes at the display of their affection. No doubt feeling jealous.

"Clary, I'm fine. I swear I'm fine. But listen to me. Chace. We've got to help him. The only reason they let me go is because he agreed to be their hostage instead of me." Simon was feeling less dizzy in the head. And the more he got his senses back the more he started to realize the situation and feel terrible about Chace. It was his fault Chace was in the clutches of vampires now.

"Oh god!" Clary gasped out in shock.

"Damn it!" Alec muttered under his breath. Why couldn't the brat stick to the plan?

"Well that was a noble sacrifice. Even though utterly stupid" said Jace nonchalantly and immediately earned a glare from both Clary and Simon.

"What? You know he's not in any real danger in there. The vampires won't be able to drink his blood and I doubt they plan on torturing him. We can easily rescue him when the sun comes up" said Jace shrugging his shoulders.

"You don't understand." Simon snapped at Jace angrily.

"The vampires were talking about something called Magnus Bane and it has something to do with Clary's memories. They are gonna use Chace somehow to get Clary's memories. We need to get him out of there right now" said Simon getting more anxious by the minute.

"Magnus Bane isn't a thing. He's the high warlock of Brooklyn" said Izzy. Finally someone cleared Simon's confusion. Thank you very much.

"He's also the warlock Chace is acquainted with" informed Alec, shocking Jace and Izzy. Clary had heard the name before from Chace but she didn't understand the importance of that name or should say the importance of the person the name belonged to.

"If Magnus is the warlock who took Clary's memories then he might already know where the mortal cup is. And if the vampires know about this which they obviously do, they are gonna use Chace's connection with the warlock to get to him. This is bad. The mundane is right. We need to rescue Chace now" said Alec. He couldn't believe a simple rescue mission had turned so south.

"Alec's right. We can't let the vampires know the location of the mortal cup" said Izzy.

"Looks like we're back on my plan" said Alec.

"Jace, Izzy I need you two to create a distraction and draw the vampires to you. Clary, your job is to make sure your mundane friend doesn't get kidnapped again. I'll sneak inside through the roof and get to Chace." Nobody had any objection. Not that Alec was gonna consider any and they immediately got to work.

Just as planned, the vampires started to go after Jace and Izzy as they made their presence known inside the building on the ground floor. They started to kill any vampire that came their way. Alec on the other hand found ways to get to the roof. The Lightwood heir would deny it vigorously but keeping the cup's location safe and out of enemies' reach weren't the only reasons he wanted to rescue Chace from the vampires. He was also worried about the brat. A little but the concern was there. Chace maybe a dangerous being and he definitely got a talent in pissing off Alec but despite all that, the shadowhunter couldn't help but acknowledge that the boy got courage and compassion. Without them Chace couldn't have put his own life in danger just to get his friend to safety. Even though completely unintentionally but it seemed Chace had managed to earn a little respect from the broody shadowhunter.


	7. So This Is How Superheroes Feel?

**Chapter 7: So This Is How Superheroes Feel?**

When Alec reached the top floor the place was completely abandoned. There was no sign of Camille or Chace; or the vampire that had kidnapped Simon. They were all gone. Alec was too late.

"Damn it!" He cursed out loud.

Alec was supposed to rescue Chace from Camille and get him as far away from the vampire as possible. He had failed. Big times. And Alec did not like failing. He inhaled a deep breath and tried tracking Chace, only this time the signal was blocked. He couldn't find him. What did that mean?

Shadowhunter tracking was strong. The only time it failed was when someone was on water, or surrounded by water. If not that then a warlock was involved because vampires didn't have the power to hide someone's existence from shadowhunter tracking. Could Camille have a warlock working for her? It was possible but then again something else could've happened. Needless to say Alec felt anxious and the feeling wouldn't go away until he found out where Chace was. Alec started going downstairs. He met with Jace and Izzy half way down.

"Did you get him?" Izzy asked and received a shake of head from her brother.

"They got away" said Alec. Then he looked at Jace.

"I need your help. I need to Parabatai track Chace. Someone's blocking my signal." Jace stepped forward without any question and held Alec's hands with his.

Jace knew how important it was to get to Chace. The way things were right now, Chace was a way to get to Magnus who appeared to be the key to everything. The warlock took Clary's memories hence there was a huge possibility that he knew the location of the mortal cup. What Camille was trying to do which was using Chace to get to Magnus, ultimately the shadowhunters would have to do the same thing. The difference was that they were gonna do it in a nonthreatening manner. Jace knew Clary would be able to convince Chace to take her to Magnus. The girl was desperate to get her memories back. She wanted to know who she really was. Most importantly she wanted to remember the location of the mortal cup. After all acquiring the mortal cup was the only way to save her mother.

Jace and Alec stared into each other's eyes deeply as they Parabatai tracked Chace. While they were doing that, Clary and Simon found them. Simon looked better than he was before. Though he was still pretty shaken and still very worried about Chace.

"What are they doing? Where is Chace?" Clary asked Izzy.

"Chace is gone. We suspect Camille took him somewhere. Alec and Jace are Parabatai tracking him. Parabatai tracking is a lot stronger than normal tracking." Izzy explained to her. Realizing that Chace was still in danger made Simon and Clary more worried.

"This is all my fault" said Simon with anguish in his voice. He had been blaming himself ever since he gained his senses back.

"Simon stop. It wasn't your fault. If anything all this is my fault. You got dragged into this world because of me. The vampires would've never kidnapped you and Chace wouldn't have come to save you if you weren't involved with me" said Clary however saying this out loud didn't make her feel any less guilty.

"Please don't say that. I was the one-" Simon began to say only to have Izzy snap at them both.

"Would you two quit it? You can play the blame game later. We need to find Chace." Begrudgingly Clary and Simon listened to her and stopped blaming themselves for what happened. At least for now. Clary looked at Jace and Alec who were still very focused on each other.

"This whole Parabatai thing seems oddly intimate, if you ask me." Clary said to Izzy who sighed out at that.

"You don't know the half of it." She said.

"Got him" said Alec letting go of Jace's hands. He looked at everyone else then said-

"I know where he is and I know he's with a warlock right now."

* * *

Miles away from hotel DuMort, in a well hidden loft Chace was sitting on the couch with his head down and very much looking like a chastised puppy.

"Just what the hell were you thinking?" Magnus was pacing in front of Chace, very much looking like an angry father who just caught his son doing something extremely foolish and reckless. Needless to say Chace had indeed done something extremely foolish and reckless.

"You have any idea what would've happened to you if Raphael hadn't called me to tell about you? You know who Camille is? How dangerous she is?"

"She had kidnapped my friend Magnus. I couldn't not do anything." Chace defended himself but his voice was small, although not that of regret. Chace did feel guilty, a little bit but that was for getting Magnus involved when he tried his best to avoid it. He felt no guilt for putting himself in danger in order to save Simon.

"And you didn't think to come to me! In fact, you hid it from me and sneaked out when I wasn't looking." This time Magnus sort of sounded offended. It made Chace look up at him finally. He got up from the couch and walked up to the warlock.

"Magnus, I'm really sorry. I didn't mean to- I didn't want to put you in any danger. I didn't want you to go outside while Valentine is hunting warlocks. If anything had happened to you- I just didn't want you getting hurt because of me. But I can see now that I was wrong. You had to come get me anyway and leave the safety of your lair. I promise I won't do anything like this again. Please don't be mad at me." Chace was desperate for Magnus's forgiveness, for his anger to mellow down. Even his eyes were shining a little bit. Seeing that, Magnus couldn't stay mad any longer. He sighed out loudly.

"Oh sweet boy, I know your intention was good. It's just the thought of you in danger that worried me, scared me even." Magnus pulled Chace into a hug and Chace immediately melted into that embrace.

"I know you had to save your friend but Chace, you can't keep getting involved in shadowhunter business. It'll get you killed. You need to stay away from them." Magnus said firmly. He pulled away from Chace in order to look him in the eye.

"Do you understand?" Chace vehemently nodded his head.

"I'll stay away from Shadowhunters. I promise. Besides, they'll probably lock me up in a lab and experiment on me anyway if they ever get their hands on me." Magnus snorted darkly hearing that.

"As if I'd let that happen." He said haughtily.

"Magnus, there's something you should know. Camille knows that you took Clary's memories. Do you think she's gonna come after you?" Chace asked worriedly. The vamp lady was serious trouble and unfortunately a lot powerful.

"Not head on. She'd try to get to me through manipulation though. But don't worry, I've got it all covered" assured Magnus. Chace felt a little relieved hearing that. But then he tensed up again.

"What if she tries to get to me? She knows she can get to you through me. I'm safe here but outside I'm completely defenseless." Chace voiced his worries. It didn't need to be voiced that Chace wasn't gonna stay hidden in Magnus's loft forever. Sooner or later, he'd have to go back home. He had his mother to get back to. Magnus thought about it for a moment.

"Don't worry, I'll come up with something to protect you outside the loft" said the warlock. Chace only nodded, not knowing what else to do. Suddenly Chace's phone rang. He pulled it out of his pocket and checked the ID, only to find that it was Clary. Chace furrowed his eyebrows. He looked at Magnus and showed him the phone screen.

"It's Clary." Chace here was obviously asking Magnus what to do? Clary was after all a shadowhunter. And Chace had just promised Magnus that he'd stay away from their lot.

"Answer it. Hear out what she has to say" said Magnus. Chace inhaled a deep breath and received the call.

"Hey Clary" said Chace. His tone of voice was guarded unlike before.

_"Oh thank god, you're alright. Are you with Magnus right now?"_ Clary asked. She sounded relieved to hear that Chace was safe and alright.

"Yeah, he got me out of the hotel. Is Simon alright?" Chace inquired.

_"Yeah, yeah he's fine. A little shaken and worried as hell about you but unhurt, thanks to you"_ said Clary gratefully.

"No need to thank me Clary. And tell him not to worry about me. I'm perfectly fine. But do stay on your guard. Camille might try to get to him again." Chace warned his friend.

_"Of course we'll be careful._ " There was a pause from Clary before she spoke up again.

_"Listen Chace, I need to ask you another favor"_ said Clary with hesitation in her voice.

"What is it?" Chace asked feeling curious. Magnus who was listening in on the conversation perked up his ears as well. Obviously he realized the shadowhunters were trying to get Chace into trouble again.

_"I need to meet Magnus Bane. He's the one who stole my memories. I need_ -" Before Clary could say more, Chace interrupted her.

"He didn't steal your memories Clary. Your mother had requested him to take them in order to protect you. Now why she thought keeping you in the dark about yourself would protect you is something only your mother knows. Magnus was against the idea of taking your memories." Chace defended Magnus faithfully. He would not have Clary accusing his guardian of thievery.

_"If that's the truth then, he should have no problem returning my memories back to me. My memories may have the answers I need in order to get my mother back Chace."_ Chace could hear the desperation in Clary's voice but this time he could not yield to her.

"I'm sorry Clary. I can't ask Magnus to give you your memories back. He's already done a lot for me. Besides, I've promised him that I'd stay away from shadowhunter business. If you want your memories back, you have to find out a way to ask him yourself." Saying that Chace hung up ignoring Clary's voice calling his name and insisting that he didn't hung up. Chace sighed out heavily before looking up at Magnus.

"I did the right thing, right?" He asked. Undoubtedly Chace was feeling a little bad about turning down Clary like that when she was so desperate and seemed to be counting on him to get her memories back.

"Yes cub. It's better if the location of the mortal cup stays protected" said Magnus.

"What about her mother? Isn't there anything we can do to help her without involving the mortal cup?" Chace asked, really hoping that there was a way but regrettably Magnus shook his head.

"It's better to sacrifice one shadowhunter than let Valentine have the mortal cup and endanger millions of people." Chace got what Magnus was saying but it still didn't make it right. Not according to Chace anyway.

"I know you're right but deep down I also know that if I were in Clary's shoes and it were my mothers in danger, I'd gladly pick them over the million strangers I didn't know or cared about. Sure I'd feel guilty about their possible deaths but I'd have still chosen my parents above others." Chace wasn't ashamed to admit that since it was indeed the truth. Good thing was that Magnus understood him. Instead of thinking of Chace as a terrible person, Magnus understood the desire of saving a loved one. The warlock also realized that Clary was just trying to do the same. She was trying to save a person she loved very much, consequences be damned. Magnus sighed out deeply before speaking up again. There was something he hadn't told Chace yet.

"The thing is even if I wanted to give Clary her memories back; I can't do that… because I no longer have them." Magnus confessed in that dramatic way of his. Chace frowned at him with confusion.

"What do you mean? Did you give it away to someone else?" Chace asked.

"Yes. I fed it to a memory demon for safe keeping. If somehow Valentine got to me, he could easily torture those memories out of me. So I gave them away. Now only Clary can get her memories back from that demon. I can only summon it. But I really don't think she's ready to deal with a demon yet" explained Magnus. Chace finally understood why Magnus was so confident about Camille not being able to get Clary's memories from him. It was because he didn't have them.

"I've a feeling Clary won't be giving up anytime soon about getting her memories back" said Chace. He didn't need to look at Magnus' face to know that the warlock thought the same. It was only a matter of time before Clary would come knocking on Magnus' door to get her memories back.

* * *

**New York Institute**

Back at the institute, Jace, Alec, Izzy and Clary were gathered to receive Intel from Hodge regarding Magnus Bane. Since Chace had refused to help, they had no choice but to get to Magnus the roundabout way. A lot had happened since the shadowhunters returned from the hotel DuMort. First of all, Alec wanted to get to Magnus' hidden lair right away and get Chace from there. That boy should be within the protective walls of the institute, not frolicking away with a warlock. Thankfully Jace and Izzy were able to convince him that going over to the warlock's lair would be a very stupid idea since the warlock would not let Chace go. Neither Chace would willingly come with them. Not to mention, they'd be perceived as threat and who knew what the warlock would do to deal with them. Magnus was after all a very powerful warlock. They needed a plan obviously.

Another highlighted issue was that Simon had left the institute despite Clary's many protests. Simon had been behaving a little strangely ever since he was rescued from Camille. His emotions were all over the place. One minute he was upset, the next he was angry. Simon had decided he couldn't be a prisoner at the institute and needed to get back to his family. Well that was the reason he told Clary and to some extent himself as well. But the actual reason was Clary's growing closeness with Jace. Simon could clearly see it. Clary was slowly falling for that guy. She looked at him in a way that Simon had longed to be looked at for years. But it was never gonna happen to him. Simon had accepted that but that didn't mean he needed to stick around and watch Clary be all lovey dovey with another guy. Especially a guy, Simon highly disliked and distrusted.

Being involved with shadowhunters was nothing but trouble. Simon understood that. Chace was right to want to stay away. Simon decided he should do the same; since apparently Clary didn't need him any longer. She had Jace to take care of her. He was the one she wanted. And so Simon left. Clary obviously tried her best to stop him but there was no stopping Simon as his mind was already made.

"Magnus is one of the most powerful warlocks I've ever known" said Hodge to the team.

"He has a deep mistrust of shadowhunters." He continued giving as much information as he had on Magnus Bane.

"Well, then why did he help my mom remove my memories? Isn't she a shadowhunter?" Clary asked. She obviously believed Chace when he said Magnus didn't take her memories of his own volition. It was done per request of her mother.

"Yes, one of the best. But 'help' might not be the most accurate word" said Hodge.

"Now, did Magnus provide a service for Jocelyn? Perhaps. But more than likely, your mother paid Magnus handsomely for his magic."

"True, I've never heard a warlock doing anything for anyone without some kind of payment. Makes me wonder what our mystery boy must be doing to pay Magnus for all the help?" It was Jace who mentioned that and they all knew what he was trying to insinuate here.

"You think they are doing it?" Izzy asked.

"I don't see any reason for the warlock to be so protective of the brat without getting some" said Jace with a smirk. For some reason Alec didn't like this conversation at all.

"Can you two please focus? This isn't a joke." Alec snapped at them which shut them up for good. Though it certainly made them confused.

"I don't like the idea of Chace being with this Magnus guy either. What if he's just playing with Chace?" Said Clary. Her voice held concern that didn't sit well with Jace.

"Well he won't be playing for long. We need to bring Chace back to the institute. The sooner we find out what he is the better" said Alec rather firmly. For a brief moment Izzy suspected, it was more than that but she quickly pushed that thought at the back of her mind as Hodge started speaking again.

"We need to make Magnus want to meet up with us" said Hodge.

"The meeting also has to be somewhere protected. Lure him out of hiding" said Jace.

"And I know exactly where we do it" said Izzy. She took the tab from Hodge and pulled out an image of a flyer. Hodge chuckled reading the flyer.

"A downworld rave. Nice Izzy." Jace was clearly impressed.

"And where'd you get that?" Alec asked.

"During my surveillance of the downworlders" replied Izzy with a smug grin.

"From what I hear, Magnus likes to party." She said.

"He'll never go for it. Not with Valentine trying to kill him" said Alec, already feeling negative about their plan.

"Of course he will." Jace however contradicted him.

"He'll blend in. Hide in plain sight." The blonde shadowhunter was certain about it.

"I don't know. It seems…. May be I should just try to convince Chace again. I'll beg if I have to" said Clary to which Jace immediately objected to.

"You don't need to do any such thing Clary. We've got this. You will get to meet Magnus." Jace assured her.

"Jace is right Clary. Trust me. Magnus will come out of hiding. He wouldn't miss going to one of the biggest parties of the year" said Izzy which strengthened Clary's confidence in the plan a little bit more.

"Never underestimate Magnus' hedonism. Or his greed" added Hodge to support their plan.

"Come with me." He said to the team and he led them to the training room. There he opened up a floor safe and took out a necklace from there. Hodge informed the team of the necklace's specialty and the price of it.

"Magnus has longed to reunite with his necklace. Offer it to him. He might just take the bait" said Hodge.

"I'll send Magnus a fire message to arrange the meeting" said Jace as he started to walk away only to stop and remind everyone of a very important matter.

"We have to get to Magnus before Camille or Valentine does."

* * *

**Magnus' Lair**

While the shadowhunters were preparing to attend the downworlder party, things were a little heated in Magnus' lair. Ever since Magnus received a fire message from Jace Wayland, he was determined to leave the protection of his lair and attend the meeting. Elias was trying very hard to convince Magnus to not go but he was failing miserably. Magnus would not change his mind.

"Is one necklace really worth the risk?" Elias asked. Chace was listening to their conversation or should say argument quietly this whole time. Chace had a lot to say about the situation but he was waiting for the right moment to say it.

"This necklace is" said Magnus but the way he said it, Chace understood that this necklace maybe very important to Magnus but it wasn't something that he couldn't live without. After all he was separated from it for all these years and had no problem living his life. Chace figured Magnus was just being stubborn. That or he just wanted an excuse to go to this party and get out of his loft. Perhaps he really was feeling caged in his own home.

"This discussion is over. I'll meet with Clary Fairchild and the Wayland boy." Magnus said his final words regarding this issue. He turned around to walk away from Elias only to inhale deeply and turn to face him again.

"Go to the Spiral Labyrinth and tell Tessa that we need more shields. While I'm gone, have every warlock maintain the protective wards. I may be prepared to take on Valentine but my guests are not." Magnus said as he handed Elias his wine glass and told him to drink up. Magnus then walked over to Chace. He took a close look at the boy's facial expression then sighed out heavily.

"You're not happy about me going either." Magnus stated knowing it to be true.

"I'm not" said Chace straight away. No beating around the bush here.

"But I see you're determined to go. So I'm just gonna go with you" said Chace and he certainly sounded as determined as Magnus was. Obviously this didn't bode well with the warlock.

"No you're not cub. You're gonna stay right here where you're most protected" said Magnus at once.

"And what about your safety? What if these shadowhunters trap you? You know Clary is going to demand that you give her memories back to her." But Magnus couldn't do that since he no longer had them. But what if they didn't believe that?

"I'm aware. I'll let her know of this at the meeting. Look I'll come back as soon as I have the necklace, okay." Magnus assured Chace but that wasn't enough to convince him.

"If it's gonna be so easy then there's no problem with me coming along with you, is there? Magnus I just don't want you to face the shadowhunters alone" said Chace stubbornly.

"And I don't want you anywhere near them. I can take care of myself Chace. I won't have you getting into any trouble because of me." At this point Chace had seriously started to pout realizing that he was losing this argument. Magnus sighed out heavily while rolling his eyes to himself. Why must that pout and puppy dog eyes make him so weak? It was pathetic really. Magnus walked over to his desk and pulled a small box out of a drawer. He walked back to Chace with the small box. He opened it and showed it to the boy. There was a pair of rings inside the box. If made Chace frown in confusion.

"Are we getting engaged?" He asked as that was the first thing that came to the boy's mind. Magnus smirked at that and replied positively.

"Yes sugar-pie, we are. Temporarily. Let's hope this works on you." Saying that Magnus took Chace's hand and put one of the rings on his finger. And then he put the other one on his own finger. Since a lot was unknown about Chace, it was hard for Magnus to know what would and what wouldn't work on Chace.

"This could've been a bit more romantic." Chace said flatly as he inspected the ring on his finger.

_"I agree"_ said Magnus and it startled Chace. It startled him because what Magnus said, Chace didn't hear it with his ears but in his head instead.

"What the-?" Chace started to say, too surprised to form any coherent sentence.

"Am I really hearing your voice in my head?" Chace asked, completely astonished.

_"Yes. And I can hear your voice in my head if you speak to me. Go ahead ask me something in your mind."_ Magnus hadn't moved his lips at all but still Chace heard every single word very clearly. So obviously the rings worked on Chace.

_"This is awesome."_ Chace thought in his mind.

_"Yes it is"_ responded Magnus.

_"Did you make these rings?"_ Chace asked.

" _No. These are Seelie rings. Seelies use them to communicate with each other when around outsiders"_ explained Magnus. The warlock suspected that it was because the rings were infused with Seelie magic that it worked on Chace and if he were to create something of a replica of these rings with his own magic it wouldn't have worked on Chace. After all Seelie magic was something else entirely than warlock magic.

"Cool!" Chace exclaimed excitedly. This time using his voice.

"With these rings on, you'll know if I'm safe as I'll know about you" said Magnus. Due to this, Chace agreed to stay behind and let Magnus go alone. If the warlock was in any trouble, Chace could immediately notify Elias and they could go and rescue Magnus. Magnus on the other hand was certain that he wouldn't be needing any rescuing this evening. Unfortunately he'd be proven very wrong about his assumption.

* * *

Magnus left for the meeting. Chace went to the guestroom that Magnus had assigned as his room for as long as he stayed at the loft. Chace decided to call his mom and let her know everything was fine. Chace had lied to her about making a friend who was showing him around New York and that he'd be staying with said friend for a couple of days. Lindsay didn't give in first, telling Chace, he shouldn't be roaming around the city with a stranger he just met. But Chace was able to convince her. Insisting that he needed this to adjust with the situation he was suddenly thrust into. Chace might have had to guilt trip Lindsay a little in his persuasion. He felt horrible about it but there was no other choice.

"Hey mom" said Chace as his mom picked up the call.

" _Hey honey. Where are you? How was your day?"_ Lindsay was eager to hear all about Chace's adventure. Obviously she was missing him a lot. Chace hadn't gone off on his own with a stranger friend like this before. Needless to say, Lindsay was worried. Her only comfort was that Chace was at least checking in with her from time to time.

"I'm fine mom. I'm having a lot of fun actually" said Chace. He skillfully avoided answering where he was. There was only so much he could lie about.

" _That's great sweetheart. I'm glad that you're having fun. But I miss you. When are you coming home? You're missing school too honey."_ Chace sighed out quietly hearing the concern in his mother's voice. He walked closer to the window to look outside. There wasn't any great view to enjoy since the loft was hidden in an underground facility.

"I'll be home soon mom. I miss you too" said Chace. Before he could turn away from the window, he noticed some movement outside. A warlock wouldn't be roaming outside the lair. They were too afraid of Valentine finding them. Could it be a mundane accidentally coming across this place? Chace grew suspicious.

"Mom, I gotta go. I'll talk to you later." Saying that Chace hung up, not letting his mother say bye to him. It certainly made Lindsay worried. Why was Chace in such a rush that he couldn't even end the call properly? Only if she knew what her little boy had gotten himself into.

* * *

Chace on the other hand being the brave soul he was, or just plain stupid, decided to investigate the matter and find out who was lurking outside the lair? A normal mundane wouldn't see anything but an abandoned warehouse and they would be turned away due to the wards protecting the lair. Hoping that was the case, that it was some mundanes outside, Chace sneaked out of the lair. He was being careful about not saying anything out loud in his head as well lest he wanted Magnus to hear it and get worried. Chace didn't want to worry the warlock when he was attending a meeting with the shadowhunters and anything could go wrong. The rings were for Chace to be assured of Magnus' safety, not the other way around. Besides, it was just an easy and simple investigation. No need to alert Magnus about it.

Shockingly when Chace stepped out of the lair, at least he was smart enough to stay hidden from plain view; he saw that the people approaching the lair were in fact shadowhunters. They had tattoos all over them. Especially the circle rune. And the way they were approaching the lair, with their weapons in hand, they were definitely not here for a friendly visit. These shadowhunters were going to attack. Not to mention it was going to be a surprise attack. Obviously they intended to do maximum damage. Chace doubted the wards would keep them out for long. They would find out a way to get inside sooner or later. The first thing Chace did was notify Magnus of the situation.

_"Magnus, the Circle shadowhunters are here. They're going to attack."_ Chace thought in his mind as he rushed inside to alert everyone.

"We are under attack!" Chace said out loud but no one heard it over the loud music the first time. Having no other choice, Chace picked up a nearby vase and dropped it loudly. That got him everyone's attention.

"What do you think you're doing?" One warlock asked, sounding pissed that Chace was interrupting whatever he was doing.

"Get up! We are under attack!" Chace exclaimed loudly. But a few warlocks scoffed at him and the rest were unwilling to believe him as well.

"I am telling the truth. We need to leave!" Even the desperation in Chace's voice wasn't enough to convince those idiots.

"Yeah right-" the warlock didn't get a chance to finish his sentence since an arrow pierced right through his throat, killing him painfully. That obviously made everyone believe Chace and they started to panic and freak out.

"Right now you believe me. No no, sit down. Enjoy the music. Have a drink. So what those shadowhunters barge in and kill you all?" Chace couldn't help the sarcastic remark as he rolled his eyes at the crowd. The warlocks were starting to behave like chickens with their heads cut off. This chaos would only get them killed faster. Chace rushed over to Elias. At least he was preparing to fight along with some other warlocks.

"Magnus will be here soon. I've already contacted him. You need to get these people out of here" said Chace.

"No, we can fight them" said Elias stubbornly. Chace felt like smacking the dude's head but refrained himself.

"You can but they can't. They'll die if you don't get them out of here" said Chace pointing at the children and some weaker warlocks who really couldn't fight. Elias looked at them too and surrendered in defeat. He instructed the other warlocks who were willing to fight to keep the Circle members out for as long as possible. After that, Elias quickly created a portal and started transporting the children first to somewhere else. Hopefully to a safer location. Chace helped with the evacuation as much as he could. The fighting warlocks were already fending off attacks from the shadowhunters. They were all engaged in battle with at least one or two shadowhunters.

" _Magnus where are you? The situation is getting worse here._ " Chace talked to Magnus in his mind.

_"The Circle members have attacked here too."_ It was the only thing Chace received from Magnus before the other end went quiet again. Clearly Magnus couldn't afford distraction at the moment. The situation at the party must be bad too if not worse.

Suddenly Chace noticed a shadowhunter running towards Elias. Clearly he intended to kill Elias as he was helping other warlocks to escape. Panic and adrenaline pumped through Chace's body and before he knew it, the seventeen year old found himself throwing his body weight at the hunter. Chace may have successfully distracted the shadowhunter from Elias but that didn't mean it wasn't a stupid move. Before Chace knew it, the shadowhunter had him pinned down on the floor with a strong grip on his neck. The bastard was strangling Chace. Elias saw this and he was going to help him but another shadowhunter attacked him and he got busy fighting him off.

Chace struggled against the shadowhunter as best as he could. The guy was really going to break his neck and kill him with his bare hand. In his desperation, Chace started to look around for weapon or something that he could use against the shadowhunter. Unfortunately nothing was within his reach.

"What? What's wrong? Don't you have magic you freak?" The shadowhunter sneered at Chace hatefully. Chace couldn't bother with correcting him that he wasn't a warlock. Not that he was able to speak anyway with his throat getting crushed. Chace kicked the shadowhunter as hard as he could but that only pissed the bastard off even more and he back handed Chace so hard that blood came out of Chace's mouth.

Chace groaned out loud in pain. He was lucky the hit didn't knock him out completely. Or perhaps he was unlucky that he still had his consciousness. At least his death would be painless if he died while unconscious. But then again, after the ringing in his ear subsided a little bit and Chace could think straight again, well as much as he could with the asshole hunter still trying to choke the life out of him, an idea popped into his mind. Chace could taste blood in his mouth. He could feel the cut as well. Chace bit on that spot harder and made his mouth bleed more. When there was enough blood in his mouth, Chace leaned forward and despite the difficulty of the task, he pressed his lips against the shadowhunter's.

The action had startled the bastard. It made him loosen his grip on Chace's neck which made this easier for him. Chace pried the hunter's lips open with his tongue and started kissing him deeply. Making sure to get as much blood in the hunter's mouth as possible. The shadowhunter obviously had no idea what Chace was doing here. He was also ignorant enough to not care about swallowing the blood that got into his mouth instead of spitting it out. Much to Chace's un-surprise, the bastard had actually started to kiss him back. The hunter clearly thought that Chace was trying to seduce his way out of dying by his hands. The hunter would still definitely kill the boy, no doubt about it, but there was nothing wrong with enjoying this a little bit before doing the deed.

Alas, the shadowhunter was wrong in his assumption. He got to enjoy nothing, as all on a sudden his runes started to burn as if they were on fire. The hunter immediately backed away from Chace as if scared.

"What did you do to me bastard?" He shouted and then screamed in agony. His scream got the other shadowhunters' attention as well.

"What's going on?" Another shadowhunter asked while fighting with a warlock.

"I don't know. He did something. He did something. My runes. Aahh!" His runes were disappearing one by one. They were slowly fading from his skin. And it hurt like hell fire. The shadowhunter kept screaming in pain and agony. So much so that it put a momentary stop to all the fighting happening around. Everyone watched with shocked eyes as the shadowhunter lost all his runes. When the last rune disappeared, the hunter passed out from pain and exhaustion.

"What the hell just happened?" It was a warlock who asked that. This incident was as much a phenomena for them as it was for the evil shadowhunters.

"He said, this boy did something." A shadowhunter pointed towards Chace. All eyes were suddenly on him. Chace was still recovering from the attack and trying to breathe as much air as possible. His throat hurt like hell and he doubted he could utter a single word at the moment.

"What did you do? Tell us!" The shadowhunter tried to approach Chace with his sword in hand but Elias who wasn't being attacked anymore quickly stepped in front of Chace. He was ready to protect the boy with his life. He knew it was because of Chace that he was still alive.

"You have to go through me to get to him" said Elias ferociously. The shadowhunter sneered at him hatefully.

"So be it." He was about to attack Elias when a burst of energy sent him flying away.

"Magnus is here." One of the warlocks exclaimed in relief. However Magnus didn't come alone. Clary, Jace, Izzy and Alec came along with him. Back at the party, after dealing with all the Circle members there, Clary was able to convince Magnus to let them come along with him. That they could help protect the warlocks at the lair. Not knowing the magnitude of the situation in the loft and having little option available, Magnus agreed to let them come. Also, one of the shadowhunters did save his life back at the party. One that definitely caught his eyes.

* * *

As soon as Magnus and the good shadowhunters joined the fight, winning was easy. The Circle members realized that and decided to retreat. Not that many of them could get away. But unfortunately two or three did get away. As soon as the fighting creased and the situation settled down a little, Magnus rushed over to Chace. Elias was with him but sadly, the warlock could do nothing to heal Chace's wounds.

Magnus felt enraged to see the bruises on Chace's neck and face. Regrettably there was nothing he could do except for tend to Chace's injuries as much as he could with medicine. But firstly the warlock pulled Chace into a tight hug first. Chace immediately hugged him back. Neither of them caring the shadowhunters there looking at them with different expressions on their faces.

"I'm sorry I couldn't come sooner." Magnus apologized with anguish in his voice. He really regretted not being here when he should have.

"It's okay." Chace whispered but he really meant it strongly.

"He saved us. Your boy. If it weren't for him we'd have lost a lot of our people today. I'd have died too" said Elias. He indeed sounded very grateful to Chace. Sadly, a few warlocks still died while fighting but it wasn't a massacre like the Circle members had wanted it to be. Magnus smiled proudly at Chace.

"My little hero." He said boastfully. Chace smiled back. So this is how superheroes felt like? Chace decided it was a great feeling.


	8. This Explains Everything

**Chapter 8: This Explains Everything**

After the warlocks were relocated at another safe location for hiding, only Magnus, Chace and the shadowhunters were left behind at Magnus's loft. Magnus knew they weren't safe where they were therefore he transported his entire loft to another location. This time the loft got a great view as well.

"Ah, much better" said Magnus admiring the view. However, it wasn't just the outside that changed but the inside as well.

"Ugh, it's inevitable. After each move, I get the itch to redecorate" explained Magnus. Chace sat down on the new couch, making himself comfortable. After Magnus treated his wounds, he was feeling much better. Apparently, Magnus's magical herbs worked much better and faster than normal mundane medication. Sadly, Chace would still need some time to heal the wounds completely. If only Magnus's magic worked on him. Then Chace would be healed in no time.

"Normally, I love a dirty lair, but this one is just sloppy" said Magnus as he eyed Alec with obvious interest in his eyes while correcting a minor mistake in the decoration. Chace obviously noticed this and he frowned at Magnus with confusion. What the hell was going on?

"I believe in payment for services rendered. Thank you for giving a hand in defending the warlocks." Magnus held the famous ruby necklace in front of Izzy. Which confused Chace more? Just what the hell was Magnus doing? He went through all the trouble for this damned necklace and now he was just giving it away. If he really wanted to pay the shadowhunters, Chace was sure he could give them something else.

"I couldn't." Izzy tried to not accept the necklace but Magnus didn't hear any of it.

"Oh but you could. And you should. The Lightwoods have been wearing this for years. Besides, this would look silly on your brother." Magnus may have said this to Izzy but everyone else heard it, especially Chace. And this time he couldn't help but glare at Magnus.

"About Alec, is he more of a flower or a cologne man?" The warlock asked Izzy quietly but he never got an answer as Chace snapped at him.

"Magnus really?!" Chace spoke with disbelieve in his voice. Though speaking of his voice, due to his throat still being very sore, he sounded like a teen who was going through voice change. Add him being pissed on top of that. If anything it made Chace extremely cute with his cheeks puffed up and a pout on his lips.

"What is it cub?" Magnus asked as if he had no clue why Chace was suddenly pissed at him.

"Him? Really?" Chace accused while gesturing towards Alec. The shadowhunter in question narrowed his eyes at Chace.

"Why not? He's a really pretty boy" said Magnus without any hesitation. If his flirting wasn't obvious to Alec before, it certainly was now. Jace gave him a look that clearly asked what was going on, to which Alec only shrugged his shoulders.

"Why not! Oh I'll tell you why not. He's the asshole who had locked me up at the institute" said Chace while glaring at Alec. This was news to Magnus. He only knew shadowhunters had imprisoned Chace after taking him to the institute. He didn't know it was Alec Lightwood.

"And then you got out. While injuring one of the shadowhunters by the way. Not to mention, I helped you with rescuing that mundane friend of yours." Alec pointed out.

"But that doesn't change the fact that you're gonna turn me into a lab rat the first chance you get." Chace retorted back.

"We need to find out what you are before you become a threat to everyone." Alec said which earned him a more heated glare from Chace. Clary glared at Alec as well but hers was overlooked.

"Become a threat? As if you don't already consider me a threat. You're just waiting for me to make a mistake so that you'd have an excuse to lock me up again." Alec didn't lose his composed demeanor at the accusation. In fact, he rather confirmed it.

"You're right. I already see you as a threat. Given what you are capable of doing, there's no reason for me not to" said Alec.

**Flashback**

_"Is he dead?" Clary asked as Jace checked the circle member who Chace had feed his blood._

_"He's unconscious. But there's something else" said Jace._

_"What?" Clary asked. But instead of Jace, it was Magnus who answered her._

_"He's a mundane now. I can no longer feel any angelic aura coming from him" said Magnus._

_"It must have been Chace's blood" said Alec._

_"You mean Chace's blood turned a shadowhunter into a mundane?" Izzy exclaimed. She couldn't believe what she was witnessing with her own eyes. She had never seen anything like it before. Never even heard of it._

_"There's no other explanation" said Jace._

_"We still need to run more tests on him" said Alec about the circle member as he looked at Izzy. She nodded back to him._

_"I'll get to that as soon as we get back to the institute." She said._

_"I've already contacted Hodge. Someone will be here soon to take him to the institute" said Alec. After the circle member was taken away, Magnus changed the location of his lair._

**End of Flashback**

"So what are you waiting for? If I'm such a big threat, go ahead, put me down." Chace was standing now, only two feet away from Alec. Both of them were staring straight into each other's eyes as if challenging each other. Of course neither of them wanted to back down first.

"Hey no one is putting down anyone" said Magnus as he stepped in between the two. The warlock made Chace look at him, distracting him from glaring at the shadowhunter.

"Chace, you trust me right? I won't let anything happen to you." Magnus spoke with so much compassion that it was evident to everyone in the room that he was telling the truth. Chace nodded his head, feeling himself calm down. Unfortunately Alec just couldn't keep his mouth shut.

"As if anyone can keep that trouble magnet out of danger." Alec said to himself while scoffing and rolling his eyes. Chace shot him a glare for that. He looked back at Magnus.

"You still wanna flirt with this jerk." He asked to which the warlock could only sigh out in defeat and raise his hands up in surrender.

"Guys please, I really need to get my memories back." Everyone turned their attention to Clary. Magnus had already agreed to help Clary get her memories back since she was willing to come and help him defend the warlocks.

"How do we summon the memory demon?" Clary asked.

"Are you certain?" Magnus asked for confirmation.

"Summoning such a powerful demon could be lethal." He warned.

"I'll do anything to save my mother." Clary said with utmost certainty in her voice. It was obvious she wasn't going to back down.

"Where is the demon?"

* * *

After that it was all about preparations. Clary drew a summoning circle with a pentagram. The design was pretty complex but Clary did it easily. Since only five people were needed for the ritual, Chace was going to sit this one out. Not that he would be allowed to participate even if he wanted to. He was already injured. Besides, the last time he came into contact with a demon, it exploded in black gooey mess. Chace would however witness the ritual since he was way too curious not to. Magnus thought it wouldn't be a problem. The demon's power shouldn't hurt Chace just like Magnus's power didn't work on him. Even though it was only a theory, one that Magnus hoped was right because there was no way to make Chace stay somewhere safe while they summoned the demon. He would pout and make puppy dog eyes at Magnus until the warlock gave in.

Magnus, Clary, Jace, Izzy and Alec took their positions inside the circle. Each standing at each point of the star. Magnus explained that the demon would ask for payment in return for Clary's memories. Afterwards a bond was made among the five. Each held the hands of the persons standing on both their sides. Magnus began chanting spells. Chace watched everything from the doorway with a bewitched expression on his face.

Suddenly Izzy's necklace started pulsing. Signaling the arrival of a demon. The summoning circle lightened up and within a blink of an eye, the demon appeared before them in a whirlwind of black smoke. Magnus warned everyone about not breaking the bond no matter what. Then the demon asked for payment. It wanted a beloved memory of the one each loved the most from all five of them. It was then that something happened that Chace wasn't expecting. Izzy and Clary relinquished a memory without any problem but when it came to Alec and the memory showed Jace Everything went downhill from there. Alec panicked and accusing the demon of treachery he broke the bond. As a result the demon broke free and attacked everyone. Magnus shielded Chace right away. Unfortunately Jace was captured by the demon when he pushed Clary out of the way. Izzy and Alec kept a strong hold on Jace so that the demon didn't engulf him completely.

"I can help." Chace said to Magnus.

"No, you're already injured. Besides, killing the demon means Clary would lose her memories forever" said Magnus. That stopped Chace. He looked at Clary. They made eye contact. Clary was clearly struggling here. She had two options available. Either choose her memories or choose to save Jace. It didn't take long for her to make up her mind, especially with Izzy yelling for her to help. She chose to save Jace and sacrifice her memories.

"Chace I can do this but still help me if I fail" said Clary to Chace who nodded his head in return.

"I'm right behind you" assured Chace. Clary gathered all her courage and walked up to the demon with a shadowhunter blade in her hands. She stabbed the demon with all her strength, killing it instantly. The demon disappeared into thin air and Jace was released. Although he lost his conscious.

Chace watched as Alec, Izzy and Clary worried over Jace but he mostly watched Alec. The way he reacted when Jace's memory came out as his most loved one and the way he was worrying right now, it was clear as day that Alec was in love with Jace. Chace also figured that it was a one sided love. Jace did not return Alec's feelings. No wonder the guy was so bitter and such a jerk to everyone. He was miserable because he was suffering from unrequited love.

"This explains so much." Chace muttered under his breath. He couldn't help but feel a little pity for him. How could he not, when Chace could tell Alec was someone who was constantly hurting inside. Also, Alec didn't seem like the type of guy who shared his pain with anyone to lessen it. He was someone who kept everything inside and suffered in silence. Chace felt an urge to comfort the shadowhunter even though Alec was such a jerk to him. It was just that Chace knew when love hurts, it hurts like a bitch. His moms were a great example of that. If they didn't love each other so much, they wouldn't be hurting so much now.

Chace pushed his thoughts regarding Alec at the back of his mind as Jace gained back consciousness. He was breathing heavily but he kept assuring everyone that he was alright. Once Jace was fine, Alec moved away from him. There was no doubt that he was ashamed of what was revealed. It wasn't only Chace though who noticed that but Magnus as well. The warlock even tried to comfort Alec.

"There's nothing to be ashamed of Alec." He said but the shadowhunter refused to acknowledge this.

"I don't know what you're talking about" said Alec. His eyes were fixed on Jace. A lot of emotions were swirling in them. Concern among the others was evident which was undoubtedly regarding Jace's well being but not a dominant emotion in Alec's eyes. To Chace if anything Alec looked mortified even if the shadowhunter was trying his best to conceal his feelings

Chace didn't know if there was anything that could be done to lighten up the situation, so he thought to just leave the shadowhunters alone. Chace went to his room and shut the door when his phone rang. His mother Lindsey was calling but given the time Chace found it odd. It was way past mid night after all. Lindsey was supposed to be sleeping right now but then Chace thought perhaps she got worried and wanted to check up on him.

"Hey mom!" Chace answered after picking up. He tried to sound as normal as possible so that his mother wouldn't worry. If she did suspect anything due to the sound of his voice, Chace would just have to make up an excuse about catching a cold all on a sudden.

_"Hello pretty boy, miss me?"_ That wasn't Lindsey's voice. In fact Chace knew exactly who was on the phone and he felt as if his blood had turned cold. A sudden fear grasped his heart and it started beating madly.

"What did you do to my mother?" Chace growled in the phone despite being terrified at the moment. All he could pray that he didn't hear 'mother' and 'dead' those two words in the same sentence.

_"Nothing yet but I will"_ said Camille. Then a scream was heard that was definitely from Lindsey.

"Don't touch her, you bitch!" Chace was hyperventilating. Fear and anger were both swallowing him up.

_"Oh but I will however there is a way you can stop me"_ said Camille being coy as if she was merely playing a game for amusement. But then again, this really was a game for her.

"Let me guess, you want Clary's memories from Magnus" spat out Chace. Being worried about his mother was only working as fuel for his anger. Chace was getting more enraged by the second. Especially since he could hear his mother sobbing at the background.

_"Well I'd have demanded that you bring me the mortal cup but asking that of you would be fruitless. It's not something a mere mundane can retrieve for me. Therefore, Clary's memories it is. Bring it to me and I'll let your mother go"_ said Camille.

There was no reason for Chace to believe that she would actually let his mother go. For all he knew, Camille could still kill Lindsey even after getting the memories, which by the way didn't exist anymore. Chace thought about saying that to Camille for a second that the memory was gone 'permanently' this time but he stopped himself. Letting Camille believe that she could still have the memories was the only way to rescue Lindsey from her clutches. If Camille found out that the memories were destroyed and she went through all the trouble for nothing, then she might kill Lindsey out of spite. Chace couldn't let that happen.

"Fine. I'll bring Clary's memories to you. Where do you want me to meet you? Also I won't hand over the memories until I see my mother with my own eyes; alive and unharmed."

_"You'll see her alive but not unharmed if you continue making demands as if you're in any position to do so."_ Camille even though spoke playfully but that was clearly a threat. One that Chace dared not ignore.

_"I'm texting you the location. I'll be waiting for you there… yes along with your mother. But if I sense anyone else with you, especially a certain warlock then you will never see your mother ever again. Do I make myself clear?"_

"Yes. I will come alone" said Chace and he really meant it because he wasn't going to risk his mother's life. Besides, it wasn't safe for Magnus outside as well, especially after the night's attack. Not to mention he was quite drained of magic at the moment due to the summoning of the memory demon. Also there was no way Chace was going to involve the shadowhunters in this. They had their own problems to solve. Whatever it was, Chace had to do it alone. But he promised himself that he would rescue his mother and wouldn't let anything happen to her.

_"Good boy."_ Chace heard from Camille as the call ended. He instantly received a text. It was an address. The seventeen year old inhaled a deep breath and sighed out heavily. Well since there was no memory to give, it was obvious that Chace would have to show up empty handed. And here Chace thought that he was done with suicide mission for this life time. Clearly fate had other plans.

* * *

Chace knew there was no way for him to sneak out of the loft without Magnus knowing. Also there weren't a lot of excuses that he could make that wouldn't make the warlock suspicious. Hence there was only one thing Chace could think of.

"Hey Magnus, I was thinking…. I'd like to go along with the shadowhunters to their institute" said Chace which surprised Magnus.

"Why?" Magnus asked. Chace was expecting it.

"I want to find out what I really am. What exactly I'm capable of doing. I don't think it's good for me if I stay in the dark about myself for too long" explained Chace. If he could he would be holding his breaths right now. It was really important that Magnus bought his excuse. Lindsey's life was depending on it.

"I thought you didn't want to be experimented on" said Magnus. Of course Chace's sudden change of mind was confusing Magnus, though not enough to make him suspicious of the boy. Magnus was simply trying to understand him.

"I didn't. But I'd rather be experimented on than endanger someone even if unintentionally." Chace gave Magnus a desperate look. The warlock misread the look and thought Chace really didn't want to harm anyone and he was starting to fear himself. Thankfully it was enough to convince Magnus. He nodded his head.

"Alright. If that is what you want cub. But let me know if the shadowhunters cause you any trouble, okay." Chace eagerly nodded his head. He felt an urge to sigh out in relief that he was able to convince Magnus.

"Of course. Thanks Magnus" said Chace which earned him a fond look from the warlock.

"There's no need to thank me. I've promised to protect you and I will." Magnus said and he really meant it which stabbed Chace right in the heart for he was lying to the warlock right to his face. Chace was deceiving Magnus and he felt extremely guilty to do so but Chace had no other choice here. His mother's life was in danger.

"I'll go talk to the shadowhunters that you're going with them" said Magnus as he walked away. Chace inhaled a deep breath and exhaled deeply.

"I'm sorry Magnus. Hope you can forgive me." Chace said to himself.

* * *

The shadowhunters were surprised to hear that Chace wanted to go along with them, especially Alec. He even became suspicious of the boy's motives. Alec would've voiced his suspicion if he wasn't so shaken from what had happened at the ritual. But since he was, he kept his mouth shut and agreed to let the boy come along with them. Clary was glad that Chace had decided to come along with them. She really didn't trust the warlock. But her distrust was warranted since her opinion of Magnus was influenced by the shadowhunters before she could form an opinion about him on her own.

Anyway, the shadowhunters and Chace left Magnus's lair and started heading towards the New York institute. Now that they were outside, Chace needed to ditch the shadowhunters somehow and get to the location Camille had asked him to meet. But how? He couldn't simply turn around and start running from them. The shadowhunters would catch him in no time and then they were gonna start interrogating him. Bad idea. The wheels in Chace's brains started rolling twice much faster. He needed to find a way to get away and fast. Suddenly his eyes landed on a twenty four seven chemist shop. An idea bulb lit in Chace's mind.

"Hey would you guys mind if I get some painkillers from the store. My throat is really hurting" said Chace. Alec was about to say that they couldn't stop and that there were plenty painkillers at the institute. Much to Alec's chagrin Clary beat him to it.

"Sure Chace." She said. Normally Alec would've immediately argued but given that Clary lost her memories forever because of him, Alec stayed quiet. Damn his guilty conscious.

"Do you want me to come along?" Clary asked Chace to which the boy shook his head.

"No it's fine. I'll be right back." Saying that Chace went inside the chemist shop. Alec immediately started having a bad feeling about it. And after fifteen minutes of no sign of Chace, the shadowhunter knew he wasn't being paranoid for no reason. Alec immediately charged inside the chemist shop and found that Chace had already left through the backdoor.

"Damn it!" Alec cursed out loud.

"Why would he leave like this? He wanted to come along with us on his own" said Izzy. She felt very confused. It wasn't like they were forcing Chace to come. In fact it was his idea.

"He used us to get out of Magnus's lair" stated Alec. He was absolutely sure of his theory.

"But why?" Clary asked. She was just as confused as Isabelle was.

"If I'm right, Chace needed to do something he couldn't let Magnus know about" said Alec only there was no if in his mind. He knew he was right.

"What should we do? Given Chace's track record I wouldn't be surprised if he's on his way to get himself killed again" said Izzy. Alec inhaled a deep breath while closing his eyes. He quickly formulated a plan in his mind.

"Okay, Jace and Clary you two go back to the institute. Izzy and I will track Chace and find out what he's up to" said Alec to which both Clary and Jace immediately objected. Clary wanted to come along and Jace didn't want to leave her and go back to the institute alone.

"Look Clary, Jace is weak right now. He needs rest but he won't go back to the institute without you. I promise I'll find Chace and bring him back." Alec gave Clary his word. It was the only way to make the girl listen. Clary looked at Jace and knew Alec was right. Jace needed to rest. He was almost killed by a demon. Therefore, even though Clary wanted to look for Chace and find out what was happening with him, she agreed to go back to the institute with Jace.

After Clary and Jace left, Alec looked at his sister. Izzy was happy that Alec had decided to go after Chace. Her brother needed some distraction to get over what had happened back at Magnus's loft. In fact Alec needed a distraction to get over Jace altogether. Alec needed to move on since Jace was already falling for Clary. Besides even if Clary hadn't showed up in their lives, Alec still couldn't be with Jace. Jace was straight and they were Parabatai. Alec's only option was to let go of his feelings for Jace. If Chace provided distraction for Alec and made it easier for him to do so, then Izzy would welcome said distraction. She would overlook the fact that Chace was a malfunctioning trouble magnet and could be a possible threat to the entire shadow world.

Alec concentrated on tracking Chace. He couldn't have gone too far. Not to mention since Chace wasn't within Magnus's lair, tracking him should be easier. Alec also worried about the brat falling straight into the circle members' hands. Chace would be like a Christmas present for Valentine given what his blood could do. Alec had no doubt that Valentine would go after Chace as soon as he heard of him. And after Chace's encounter with the circle members back at Magnus's lair, their enemy was bound to find out about him. There was no avoiding that. Damn it, they should've been more careful about Chace. Alec should've kept a closer eye on him. No matter what Valentine could not get his hands on Chace. Due to the fact that they still didn't know all the things Chace's blood was capable of doing, letting Valentine have him would be no less destructive than letting him have the mortal cup.

"Found him. Let's go" said Alec. Both siblings took off to the direction Alec had tracked Chace.

* * *

**Underground Parking Lot**

The location turned out to be an underground parking lot. When Chace got there he saw no one. His heart was hammering against his ribs. Chace was more worried about his mother's life though than facing a dangerous vampire.

"I am here!" Chace yelled out loud. He was being caution. Camille could attack him out of nowhere all on a sudden. Not that Chace could fight against her but that didn't mean the seventeen year old didn't have a few tricks up his sleeves. Okay maybe it was just one trick but it was still better than nothing.

"So you really came alone. How obedient. Or maybe I should say how stupid." At first Chace only heard the voice but didn't see anyone around. However, he could only blink once before Chace found Camille standing right in front of him. One step closer and she would be invading his personal space. Instinctively Chace took a few steps back. That only made Camille smirk at him devilishly. Chace narrowed his eyes at the vampire and glared at her.

"Where's my mom?" Chace asked. Despite his injured throat, the boy spoke strongly. He couldn't let Camille intimidate him.

"Where's Clary's memories?" The vampire asked in return.

"Let me see my mom. Only then I'll give you the memories." Chace demanded and the way he said it made it clear that he wasn't open to negotiation. Camille glared at Chace for his audacity. Just what did this mundane think of himself? Did he not know who he was talking to. Camille wanted to rip his mother's throat out before his eyes just to put the mundane in his place. Only the thought of Clary's memories kept her from doing so. However, that didn't mean she couldn't do whatever she wanted to after getting the memories. Camille would teach this brat a good lesson for talking back to her.

"You do realize that I can just kill you right now and take the memories" said Camille threateningly. She was sure the memories were on Chace's person in the form of an object. Her statement however made Chace smirk.

"Well that's the thing, if you kill me you'll never get the memories because it's up here" said Chace pointing at his head.

"I didn't ask Magnus to give me Clary's memories. I asked him to show them to me. The location of the mortal cup is right here. So go ahead, kill me." Chace dared Camille knowing the vampire wouldn't do it now. Camille sneered at him. There was no doubt she wanted to break Chace's neck at the moment but held herself back. Camille disappeared somewhere in vampire speed and came back with Lindsey. A bloodied Lindsey. She had many injuries on her body. It was clear signs of torture. Chace gritted his teeth. He wanted to kill that vampire bitch.

"Chace why have you come here? You've to run. Leave. She's going to kill you!" Lindsey was shaking with fear seeing her son there. Whoever this woman was, she was crazy and dangerous. Lindsey had no idea what was going on but she knew one thing for certain, she didn't want this woman anywhere near her son.

"Mom everything's going to be alright. I'll get you out of here. I won't let anything happen to you." Chace was on the verge of tears seeing his mother like this. It was all his fault. She got dragged into the craziness of the shadow world because of him.

"No sweetheart, you need to leave now. Get as far away from this woman as possible. Please Chace go!" Lindsey begged as she started sobbing uncontrollably. Her son was in danger. He would be killed if he didn't get away. Not to mention she was completely helpless here. There was nothing she could do to save her son. This realization overwhelmed Lindsey to the point of suffocation. She was starting to have a panic attack.

"Mom, please be strong. Please-" Chace started to say but he was rudely interrupted.

"Quit your melodrama. Tell me where the mortal cup is right now. You don't want me to put more scars on your mother, do you?" An evil smile appeared on Camille's face. It was no empty threat. A heavy sigh left Chace's breath as if he was resigning himself to his fate. He walked closer to Camille. Chace glanced at his mother once before looking back at the vampire. He made sure to put himself in between Camille and Lindsey. What he was about to do would surely anger the vampire and she would attack. Chace wanted it to be him who was attacked rather than his mother. Lindsey on the other hand wanted to pull Chace away from the woman and push him behind her so that whatever happened she'd be the one to face it, not her son. Tears were still flooding her eyes and rolling down her face uncontrollably.

"I lied to you" announced Chace making Camille raise her eyebrows at him.

"I don't know where the mortal cup is. I haven't seen Clary's memories. In fact her memories are gone. Even Magnus doesn't have them anymore" said Chace. This time Camille's face turned stone cold. The way she glared at Chace made a chill run down his spine in a nasty way.

"You lie" accused Camille with coldness that was scarier than an angry shout.

"I am not. You've lost Camille. You are never getting the mortal cup" said Chace calmly. It enraged the vampire even more. After a moment's silence and staring Camille spoke up again.

"I see. Well then, I guess there's no point in keeping you alive." Saying that Camille bared her fangs and lunged at Chace. Lindsey screamed and tried to push Chace out of the way only to have Camille hit her so hard that Lindsey flew away and dropped on the floor, hitting her head hard on the concrete and instantly losing her consciousness.

"MOM!" Chace yelled and tried to get to her but Camille grabbed him. She was about to hit him too when an arrow came out of nowhere and pierced Camille's shoulder. The vampire hissed in pain and bared her fangs at the direction the arrow came from. Two figures came running and Chace was shocked to find that they were actually Alec and Izzy. The female shadowhunter rushed to Lindsey first to see if she was still alive while Alec engaged with Camille. Seeing that the vampire was occupied Chace ran to his mother.

"Mom!" Chace cried as he dropped down beside his mother.

"She's only unconscious Chace. She'll be fine" said Izzy. Suddenly they both heard a short painful yelp from Alec. Camille was able to slash his forearm.

"Go help him." Chace said to Izzy urgently. She nodded and got up.

"Wait!" Chace handed her a vial of blood. No doubt his blood.

"In case she didn't bite me." Chace explained. Nothing more needed to be said. Izzy took it and ran to help her brother. Camille was powerful. She had Alec pinned down. Izzy couldn't get close enough to Camille to inject the blood in her so she did what she could do. She threw the vial at Camille using all her force. The vial broke at the hit and the blood got on the vampire's skin. Izzy hoped that it would work and thankfully it did. Camille screamed as her skin burned where it came in contact with the blood. It was like she was exposed to the sunlight. Perhaps even worse. She tried to wipe the blood way only to have her hand burn as well. She screamed even more.

"What the hell is this? What did you do to me?" Camille screeched in pain. Seeing the opportunity Alec shot an arrow right at her heart but despite being in pain, she caught it with her hand. Then she vamped sped out of there before either Alec or Izzy could stop her. Camille knew she would die if she stayed there any longer. Afterwards, Alec and Izzy walked over to where Chace was. He was cradling his mother's head against his chest while crying quietly for the state she was in.

"We need to take her to a hospital" said Chace to the shadowhunters.

"We can give her medical attention back at the institute. A mundane hospital won't be safe for her" said Alec and Chace nodded his head without any argument. Alec activated his strength rune and picked up Lindsey as if she weighted nothing. As they started to walk towards the exit, Chace spoke to Izzy.

"Thanks for coming here to save us. I really mean it. I owe you two" said Chace feeling utmost gratefulness towards the two shadowhunters. He and his mother might not have made it alive if not for them. Izzy accepted his gratitude.

"You're welcome. But you shouldn't have come here alone in the first place. You should've told someone. Magnus would be very disappointed in you" said Izzy. She herself didn't sound any less disappointed.

"Please don't tell him. I didn't have any choice. Camille threatened to kill my mom if I didn't come here alone." Chace defended himself.

"You should have still told someone instead of coming here alone like an idiot. We could've come up with a plan to rescue your mother." It was Alec who said this and he sounded nowhere near as friendly as Izzy was. Chace didn't argue with that and only looked down at his feet. A tint of red appeared on his cheeks. Was that a pout on his lips?

"I wish my blood could cure meanness." Chace muttered under his breath but it was still audible to the shadowhunters. Izzy couldn't help but smirk while Alec rolled his eyes to himself.

Izzy realized that she was right after all. Chace was proving to be a great distraction for Alec. Also she didn't fail to notice that Chace didn't seem to hate her brother any more. Something had changed in Chace regarding his opinion of Alec. Izzy could see a friendship forming between them in the future. Perhaps even more than friendship. Who could tell? Well time obviously.


	9. From Enemies To Allies

**Chapter 9: From Enemies To Allies  
**

_"What do you want me to do Valentine?"_

_"Don't lose sight of him until I get my hands on him. I never thought I'd find him but fate is clearly on my side."_

_"Is he really that important?"_

_"You have no idea."_

**New York Institute**

Alec entered the laboratory where Izzy was working. The newly turned mundane of the circle was locked up in the cell. He had lost his sight to see the shadow world. Lost all his powers as a shadowhunter. And it was highly possible that drawing a rune on him would turn him into a forsaken instead of giving him powers. In other words, the man was simply an ordinary mundane now except he knew all about the shadow world since his memories were still intact. He didn't forget anything. Neither his loyalty to Valentine had changed.

"What's the report Izzy?" Alec asked his sister.

"Well that circle member's report is what we had expected. There's no trace of Nephilim power left in his blood anymore. It's just like any other mundane blood" said Izzy.

"Well if there's nothing else to find I'm gonna send a message to the Clave and arrange for his transfer there." The Clave would take custody of the prisoner once the New York institute was done with their investigation and submitted the final report.

"What about Chace? What did you find from his blood tests?" Alec asked. He was very curious and he didn't bother to hide his curiosity.

"Well at a first glance his blood looks normal. Just like mundane blood. Nothing out of the ordinary. But magic happens when it comes in contact with another blood. When I mixed his blood with a shadowhunter's blood, as expected the blood lost all its angelic properties. When I mixed his blood with demonic blood same thing happened. The blood lost all its demonic properties" explained Izzy.

"But his blood killed the demon at Pandemonium. The blood didn't turn it into a mundane whereas the circle member turned into a mundane. He didn't die" said Alec.

"I have a theory about that. The circle member turned into a mundane because that's what we are without the angelic properties in our blood. A demon doesn't have a mundane side to it. Therefore when Chace's blood nullified the demonic properties from its blood, the creature simply died." Izzy's theory made sense but if it was true then Chace's blood should be able to do something else as well.

"Most downworlders have a mundane side to them" said Alec. The siblings shared a look with each other. They both knew what it meant.

"It's possible that Chace's blood can turn them into mundane" said Izzy sighing out exasperatedly. As if the situation wasn't already complicated enough with Chace.

"But Camille's skin burned when it came in contact with Chace's blood. Maybe his blood will simply kill a downworlder instead of turning it into a mundane" said Alec but it was obvious he was doubting his own words here.

"Just like Raj's rune burned at the contact. It would be stupid of us not to consider the possibility that Chace's blood could turn a downworlder into a mundane." Izzy knew this made Chace both a prize and a threat to the downworlders. Many downworlder who wanted to turn back into human would come after Chace to take his blood to cure themselves. Others who preferred the life of a downworlder would perceive him as a threat and come after him to end his life. Apparently Alec realized this too.

"Izzy I don't want this information to get out of this lab" said Alec.

"What about the Clave?" Izzy asked.

"Not even the Clave. There's no guarantee that some members of the Clave won't be tempted to use Chace to cure the downworlders. Since there's no accord against turning a downworlder into a mundane, no one would be breaking any rule but it'll certainly start a war with the downworlders" said Alec. Izzy nodded her head, agreeing with her brother. Also Alec didn't want Chace becoming a weapon for the Clave. That would destroy any chance of him having a normal life. Chace didn't deserve it.

"We only tell Clave what they've already heard I'm sure. That Chace's blood can turn shadowhunters into mundanes and that his blood can kill demons. Not a word about the blood's effect on the downworlders. Okay. In fact we tell them that the blood kills downworlders as well." said Alec. Both Lightwood siblings agreed to this. They decided to keep this between them and not even tell Chace about it.

* * *

Not long after this discussion between Alec and Izzy, the male Lightwood went to the infirmary where Chace and his mother were. Last Alec checked, Lindsey's wounds had been treated but she was yet to wake up. Chace was really worried. Upon entering the infirmary, Alec saw Chace dozing off while sitting beside his mother's bedside. Both Chace's arms were folded on the bed and his head was resting on them. The boy was sure to get a neck pain due to the uncomfortable position he was in. Chace must've fallen asleep while waiting for his mother to wake up. Even in sleep he looked worried. Alec felt pity for the boy. He went ahead and carefully scooped Chace up in his arms. Then he gently put him on the bed next to Lindsey's. This way Chace would be able to rest properly and not wake up with an arching neck.

Alec couldn't help but stare at Chace's face for a moment. He looked so fragile. It made Alec feel an urge inside. An urge to protect him. Chace was innocent in the shadow world. Alec hoped that the darkness of this world wouldn't taint this boy. Alec couldn't stop himself from lightly brushing his fingers on the bruise still visible on Chace's neck. The seventeen year old shouldn't have been through the things he had been through. Regrettably Alec knew that things would only get more difficult for Chace from now on. Alec had made up his mind however. He would try to ease thing up for Chace as much as he could.

"Thank you." A voice spoke up softly. Alec turned and saw that Lindsey had her eyes open and looking at him.

"He would've woken up with a nasty neck pain." She said giving him a gentle smile.

"It's no problem" said Alec. Then he felt a little awkward about what to say next. Should he leave? Should he wake up Chace? Alec had a lot of questions for Lindsey but now was not the time for questioning. That would've to wait. In the end, Alec thought it was best to leave and let Lindsey rest some more. He was about to take his leave when Lindsey spoke up again.

"What's your name?" Lindsey asked.

"I'm Alec. Alec Lightwood" replied the shadowhunter.

"You saved us from that woman, didn't you?" Even though Lindsey was unconscious by the time Alec and Izzy got there, she was able to put two and two together and figured out that this guy standing in front of her was the reason she and her son were still alive.

"That woman was actually a vampire" said Alec. There was no point in keeping Lindsey in the dark anymore. After everything she had witnessed and experienced she was bound to discover the shadow world anyway. And erasing her memories wouldn't have been a good choice either since Chace would stay involved in the shadow world no matter what. It was just better if Lindsey knew everything.

"So, it's really true. I suspected her to be but I was hoping that I was wrong" said Lindsey sighing out heavily. She then looked at Alec and he just knew what her next question would be.

"You're not a human either, are you?" There was anxiety in her voice that she tried her best to hide.

"I'm a human alright. I breathe, eat and sleep. I have feelings and emotions. I have blood in my veins that can be spilled. I can be killed too. What I have more are supernatural abilities. Because of those abilities I'm called a shadowhunter. Shadowhunters are people who protect both the shadow world and the mundane world from demonic creatures that wish to harm them." Alec briefly explained. Lindsey got what Alec was saying but she was still full of questions. Regrettably, she knew she had to wait for all her questions to be answered.

"I have many questions" admitted Lindsey.

"But what I want to know most is how the hell did my son get himself involved with a vampire?"

"That is a story you better hear from him" said Alec to which Lindsey nodded her head. She would wait to get the explanation. And Chace better explain everything to her if he didn't wish to be grounded for the rest of his life.

"To think that he came so close to dying-" Lindsey couldn't finish the sentence. Even thinking of Chace dying sent a horrible and nasty shiver down her spine. It was something she absolutely could not bear. It scared Lindsey shitless. She had never felt more terrified in her life before. Not to mention helpless. Lindsey didn't even realize it but tears had gathered in her eyes and they were freely falling and rolling down her face.

"I don't know how to thank you enough. If anything had happened to Chace, I- I don't know what- I can't-" Lindsey tried to control her sobs as she didn't want to wake up Chace. Her poor boy already looked exhausted.

"Hey, everything is fine now. He is safe here. I will, I mean we will protect him and keep him safe." Alec said this to comfort the worried mother but he also meant it. Lindsey sniffed lightly and held her breath for a moment before she was able to speak again.

"I know you're a complete stranger yet I feel like I can trust you Alec. Please don't let any harm come to my boy. He's really precious. He's all I've got." Lindsey pleaded with the shadowhunter. Alec nodded in understanding. There was no debate to be done over this. As a shadowhunter it was his job to protect people anyway. However, Chace really was someone precious, special, unique.

"I give you my word. His safety is my responsibility." Alec said it with enough conviction. Lindsey inhaled a deep breath. Her worries lessening a little bit, however she was nowhere near feeling relieved. But then again, a mother could hardly stop worrying about her child. Lindsey inhaled and exhaled a deep breath before speaking up again.

"I've a lot to learn, don't I?" It was an entire world Lindsey suddenly got involved in. Of course she had a lot to learn.

"That you do" said Alec.

"I believe Chace would like to tell you all about it. Should we wake him up? He'd want to know you're well" said Alec but Lindsey shook her head.

"No, let him rest for a while. He needs it. I don't know the details but I can tell he's been through a lot." She said.

"Yes that's true" agreed Alec. The boy had really been through a lot in a short amount of time.

"Speaking of Chace, may I ask you something?" Asked Alec. Feeling intrigued Lindsey nodded her head.

"You adopted Chace when he was an infant. Do you have any idea who his real parents might be?" Lindsey didn't understand why this question was asked but she answered anyway.

"No. Even the orphanage from where we adopted Chace knew nothing about his parents. He was abandoned at their doorsteps with a locket around his neck. There wasn't any letter or anything. My partner Rosalie had tried to track his real parents right after we adopted him. She was curious about them. But she never found anything. Even the locket proved to be useless. Rosalie gave up searching for them after six months" explained Lindsey.

Alec was expecting an answer like this; still he couldn't stop himself from being disappointed. He figured that if Chace's real parents were of the shadow world then it was impossible for a mundane to find out about them. Perhaps he should look into it. Needless to say his chances of success was higher than a mundane's. But that quest would have to wait. There were far more pressing matters to deal with at the time being.

"But why did you ask?" Lindsey wondered. Alec pondered on it for a moment. Should he really tell her? It would've been better if Chace himself told his mother. But then again, he might not be able to explain everything properly to her since he was very new to all this himself. Hence Alec decided to spill the bean.

"Because Chace is not an ordinary mundane" said Alec making Lindsey furrow her brows in confusion.

"You keep saying this word Mundane. Just what exactly is a mundane?"

"Normal humans who don't have any supernatural abilities. Like yourself." Alec explained. It took Lindsey a moment to register exactly what this shadowhunter was saying.

"Are you saying that my son has supernatural abilities? That he's not a human?" Lindsey spoke with disbelieve in her voice. After all how could this be true? Chace not human? No that was impossible.

"No, I think there's a misunderstanding. Chace is not a supernatural being. He's human. I mean he's a mundane like myself. I've raised him all these years. I know my son." Lindsey insisted desperately. Alec knew it was hard for a mother to believe that she didn't know her own son. But Lindsey would've to face and accept the truth sooner or later.

"I know it's difficult for you to believe what I'm saying but it's the truth. Chace has-" Before Alec could say more, Chace stirred in his sleep. Despite Lindsey and Alec having their conversation in a low tone of voice, it still woke up Chace since his sleep wasn't very deep given the circumstances. The boy struggled with sleep and forced himself to wake up.

Chace felt as if sleep didn't want to let go of him at all. It was lulling him back into a deep slumber. His tired mind and exhausted body wanted to give in but he forced himself to open his eyes. At first everything was blurry and he felt dizzy in the head. Once his eye sight cleared enough the first person he saw was Alec. The shadowhunter was looking at him with a concerned look on his face. Was he worried about him? The thought made Chace smile a little. He opened his mouth to say 'hi' but instead of words, a gasp escaped his breath. Suddenly Chace remembered his mom and he sat up abruptly which really wasn't a smart thing to do as it made him feel more dizzy. A hiss escaped his breath unintentionally.

"Hey, take it easy!" Alec told him but Chace couldn't heed his warning. He was worried as hell about his mother.

"Mom!" Chace exclaimed worriedly as he looked to his mother only to find that she was wake and looking at him with worry.

"Chace, honey, please take it easy. I'm right here. There's nothing to worry." Lindsey tried to assure her son but Chace couldn't not worry. He almost lost his mother.

"Mom! How are you feeling? Are you feeling okay? Are you hurting anywhere?" Chace's eyes were flooded with tears as he rushed to his mother's side. Face flushed red, eyes swollen, nose running a little, and his lips quavering; Alec noticed all these and thought the brat looked kind of cute. He immediately shook his head though to rid himself of that thought. What the hell?! Why would he think something like that. Perhaps exhaustion was getting to him too. Yeah, that's what it was.

"I'm fine. I'm feeling fine. I'm more worried about you honey." As mother and son caught up with each other, Alec decided not to intrude in their moment and excused himself quietly.

* * *

While Alec was walking down the hallway to get to his room, he overheard a conversation between Jace and Clary. They were talking about Clary's necklace. Once he found out what happened with the necklace and that Valentine could communicate with Clary through it, he decided to confiscate the necklace and put it somewhere safe and out of reach from everyone, especially Clary. Alec knew it pissed off Clary but he couldn't careless about it. The safety of the institution was more important to him. Alec thought about doing some light training since he got the opportunity to do it. He was getting ready for it when he heard a knock on the door. Upon opening the door, Alec found Chace standing in front of him. The boy smiled at him. It was a shy smile but Alec refused to think it that way.

"Hey" said Alec.

"Hi, um... Am I keeping you from something? We can talk later if you're busy right now." Wow since when Chace was so polite with him? But then again Alec did save his mother's life. The boy was bound to feel grateful to him.

"No, we can talk. What is it?" Alec asked. Chace bit his bottom lip out of nervousness. Alec noticed it. And his eyes might have stayed on those lips a few seconds longer than necessary.

"It's just I really wanted to thank you again for everything you've done for me and my mom." Before Chace could say more, Alec stopped him.

"You don't have to thank me. We're shadowhunters. Protecting people is what we do" said Alec.

"I know, I know. But still I feel that I owe you and I wish to do something in return" said Chace. Alec was about to open his mouth to say that Chace didn't owe him anything but the boy didn't let him speak.

"Just hear me out for a second. Please." Inhaling a deep breath, Alec nodded his head, permitting Chace to continue.

"Remember what I told Magnus about co-operating with you in finding out what I really am; well I really mean it this time. I will co-operate. Whatever tests you wish to run on me, I'll go along with it. I know how much you want to figure out what I am, so this is the least I can do for saving my and my mother's life." If Chace had told this to Alec yesterday, the shadowhunter would've jumped at the opportunity and run as many tests needed in order to figure out Chace. But it was different now. Alec knew if Chace was experimented on then it would be with the Clave's permission and under their supervision. And after the tests they would await results. If that happened, the fact that Chace's blood could possibly turn downworlders into mundanes may be revealed for the whole world to know. No, Alec had already decided he was gonna keep that fact a secret. At least until Valentine was dealt with.

"That's great Chace but you see, now is not a good time for figuring out what you are. Clary is getting desperate to find her mother. We're deploying all our resources in finding her. So, perhaps later" said Alec. Chace did find it a little suspicious. These past few days Alec was so obsessed with wanting to figure out what Chace was and now that he had the chance to do so, he was backing out. Despite having suspicion, Chace decided not to question Alec.

"Alright... I um.. I'll get going then" said Chace rather awkwardly. Alec nodded his head at first but then stopped Chace when he was about to walk away.

"Have you talked to your mother about- you know?" Meaning talking to Lindsey about Chace not being an ordinary mundane.

"Yeah, yeah I did. She couldn't believe it at first but I was able to convince her." Alec narrowed his eyes a little at the younger boy.

"I hope you didn't do anything crazy to convince her." Chace blushed a little at that and vehemently shook his head.

"No, I was good. I didn't do anything crazy." Chace assured and Alec nodded his head in approval. So the brat could behave when he wanted to. Chace was about to leave again but he stopped once again.

"Oh, I almost forgot. Mom wants to meet Magnus. So, can we go to him when she gets better? I'd love for them to meet too, besides, I need to apologize to Magnus as well." Chace said the last part more to himself than Alec. It was pretty clear that the boy was ashamed to have lied to Magnus.

"Fine" said Alec which made Chace give him a big grin but obviously there was more to it.

"-But you won't be going outside of the institute alone. I'll escort you both to Magnus's. Given the circumstances, this institute will become your home for unforeseeable period of time." This worried Chace.

"What about mom? Will she be staying here with me?" If so then Chace would have less problem with the arrangement.

"No, your mother can't stay here. She's a mundane. She'll have to go back home but rest assured, she'll be well protected and under constant surveillance." Before Chace could object to it, because there was no way he could accept staying away from his mother for a long period of time. She would be worried, he would be worried, the both of them would be worried about each other. Chace would have to make Alec see that. But that would have to wait, as someone, another shadowhunter had come to inform Alec about the arrival of his mother. Naturally Chace got curious about who Alec's mother was, therefore he followed the shadowhunter to the main working area. Besides, Alec didn't forbid him from following so it was fine, right?

* * *

"Mother, welcome back." Alec greeted his mother as he approached her. Chace following him closely behind. Needless to say Alec and Izzy's mother was a gorgeous woman. She looked like a very tough and stern person. Perhaps to the point of being cold. Chace prevented himself from forming any opinion about her though. He didn't know anything about her. It wouldn't be right to label her personality based on the first impression.

"I didn't expect you" said Alec as his mother gave him a brief hug.

"You should be prepared whether you expect me or not" said Mrs. Lightwood.

"I am. We are" said Alec. Did he sound nervous just now? It seemed like it to Chace.

"We will talk about the institute later, first-" saying that Mrs. Lightwood looked at Chace.

"Mr. Chace Williams, let me welcome you to the New York institute. I've heard of some troubles you've had the first time you came here, I apologize for that. The Clave wants us to make sure your stay here is utmost pleasant and comfortable." Jace, Alec, Izzy and Clary looked at each other feeling completely baffled. Chace felt confused too. Was it because of his blood that the Clave asked the New York institute to give him such a VIP treatment? Of course it was. Why else would they do it?

"Ah thanks I guess. But to be honest I caused this institute more trouble. Sorry about that." Chace scratched the back of his head while giving an awkward nervous laugh.

"How about we forget the past and start a new?" Mrs. Lightwood suggested with a smile.

"Yeah that's a great idea" agreed Chace.

"From now on anything you need, please let me know and I'll do my best to fulfill them. But do understand that for the Clave your safety is of utmost importance. There will be no compromise on that. If anything puts you in danger, we'll handle that and you'll stay put. Do I make myself clear Mr. Williams?" Mrs. Lightwood spoke the last part quite sternly so that Chace would understand the severity of it. Chace indeed understood and he also figured Mrs. Lightwood was talking about the vampire incident where he recklessly put his life in danger. It wasn't that Chace regretting doing it, because it was after all for the sake of rescuing his mother but Chace understood that he wouldn't be able to do anything like that from now on. The institute would be keeping a very close eye on him. Yeah, the stay in the institute would be pleasant and comfortable indeed. He would be nothing but a glorified prisoner.

"I understand Mrs. Lightwood." Chace conceded. It wasn't like there was anything he could do. Not right away anyway. After that Mrs. Lightwood turned her attention back to her son, daughter and Jace. They started talking about the trouble with the Seelies. The meeting ended with Jace and Izzy going off to meet with the Seelies and Alec getting stuck baby sitting Clary. No one was happy with this arrangement. Especially Alec.

"Hey Chace, sorry I haven't had the time to come and check up on you. How is your mom?" Clary asked Chace.

"She is better now. Wanna meet her? I know she really wants to meet you." Chace said to which Clary nodded her head.

"Yeah, sure. Lead the way." With that Clary and Chace went off to see Chace's mother. Alec inhaled a deep breath and exhaled slowly. Then reluctantly he followed the duo. Since he was assigned to babysit Clary, that meant he'd have to be around the girl and follow her wherever she went. Why he had to be the one to be stuck with her when Jace would've happily followed her around? Alec knew why. It was his mother's way of punishing them. At least Chace would be there to make the situation tolerable. Wait, did Alec just think that? Did he really not mind the boy's company anymore? Alec vehemently shook his head. Now was not the time to ponder on such things. He had orders to follow.

* * *

Clary and Lindsey were getting along quite well. Chace couldn't wait for his mom to meet Magnus. Alec wasn't there with them anymore. He had to go talk to Jace. Clary had already told Chace about what happened with her necklace. She still believed that they should use it to find her mom Jocelyn. Chace didn't know what to say to her. Of course Clary would want to try everything possible to get her mother back. However, if she went off on her own again, she'd get Alec in more trouble this time. Chace didn't want that either.

"I've got an idea. How about we let Magnus have a look at the necklace?" Chace said to Clary.

"Alec wouldn't agree" said Clary dejectedly.

"No he would." Chace said confidently, not to mention enthusiastically as well.

"I've already talked to Alec about taking my mom to Magnus's so that they could meet. He said he'd take us there. We just need to convince him to bring the necklace along with us." Clary thought about it for a moment then nodded her head.

"Yeah, that's a great idea. Let's go talk to Alec" said Clary but Chace stopped her.

"Perhaps I should do this alone" suggested Chace. They both knew Alec was not a fan of Clary. If she asked him anything, he'd most likely decline. Chace didn't need to say this out loud for Clary to understand. She sighed out heavily but nodded her head anyway.

"Good luck." She said and Chace went off to find Alec. When Chace found Alec, he was talking to Jace. Chace didn't mean to eavesdrop but it was hard not to hear what they were saying when standing so close.

"What is wrong with you?" Jace asked Alec. The later seemed troubled about something.

"I.. uh.. you've every right to be mad at me" said Alec.

"What did you do? Throw my leather jacket in the washing machine again?" Jace asked not taking this seriously at all. That didn't sit well with Alec.

"This isn't a joke." He couldn't help but snap a little. An awkward silence engulfed them for a moment before Alec spoke up again.

"At Magnus's. The demon… image of you."

"That?" Jace said raising his eyebrows.

"You love me….. so?" As Chace heard Jace say this, he couldn't help but yell in his mind _'Oh come on, are you really gonna play the dumb card here?'_ Yeah Jace was straight and he could never return Alec's feelings but that didn't mean he should discard Alec's feelings like this. Jace should acknowledge them and encourage Alec to move on from him. That's what Chace thought would be the right thing to do anyway.

"I love you too Alec." Jace continued. And for a brief moment Chace could see hope in Alec's eyes. ' _Man! This is gonna hurt like hell'_. And just as Chace predicted, what Jace said next really crushed Alec's heart.

"Come on, man, we're Parabatai. We're brothers. We've spent almost our whole lives together. How could we not love each other?" Chace felt like punching Jace in the face for some unknown irrational reason. But seeing Alec's heartbroken expression really made Chace feel sorry for him. This guy really needed to move on. Pinning after Jace would only bring Alec pain. A part of Chace even wanted to help Alec move on even though it was none of his business.

Chace lingered till the end of their conversation. And the urge to punch Jace in the face only intensified the more Chace listened. Wasn't it simply cruel of Jace to ask Alec to look after Clary? Yes, Alec would have protected Clary no matter what anyway since he was not only ordered by his mother but he was a good shadowhunter. But having Jace ask him to do that was just like rubbing salt on a wound. Chace turned around and left without asking Alec about going to Magnus's. Obviously Alec wasn't in a very good mood at the moment. Chace didn't want to trouble him. He decided he would talk to Alec later when he wasn't feeling so hurt.

* * *

Unfortunately not talking to Alec turned out to be a bad idea as Clary tried to sneak out of the institute.

"Clary, please don't do this. You'll get Alec into trouble" said Chace as he stood between Clary and the exit door.

"Since when did you start caring about Alec?" Clary asked rolling her eyes at Chace.

"Since he saved my and my mom's lives." Chace answered straight away without any hesitation. Clary understood where he was coming from but she really needed to go.

"Look Chace, I understand but I really need to go to the loft. There's a box. I believe there's something in there that would help us find my mom." Clary explained.

"So you don't want to go to Magnus's anymore?" Chace asked.

"No, we would need Magnus's help for tracking but first we need to get that box" said Clary. Chace thought about it for a moment.

"Fine come with me" said Chace with an authoritative voice. Clary began to protest but Chace didn't let her.

"Just trust me on this okay. We'll get that box of your and then we'll get to Magnus's but with permission so that Alec doesn't get into trouble." Well speak of the devil; Alec appeared there as soon as Chace finished saying that.

"You tried to sneak out." Alec said to Clary and he definitely sounded pissed. Then he looked at Chace.

"And what are you doing? Helping her escape?" There was this look of disappointment on Alec's face that didn't sit well with Chace.

"Stopped her from getting you into trouble actually. You're welcome." Chace retorted sarcastically. Alec didn't want to believe it at first but seeing the look Clary was giving Chace, he didn't have any other choice but to believe it.

"Thanks" said Alec very reluctantly which made Chace roll his eyes at the shadowhunter.

"Now, let's go see your mother" said Chace making Alec frown in confusion.

"Why?" He asked.

"For permission to leave, of course." Chace said with a duh tone.

"Mother wouldn't give us permission to leave" said Alec confidently.

"Well then my stay here would be very unpleasant and I might not want to stay here at all. Somehow I think the Clave would rather give into my whims than have me out of their sight." A roguish smirk was playing on Chace's lips as he said this making Alec shake his head at him.

* * *

An hour later, Alec, Chace, Clary and Lindsey were heading towards Clary's loft.

"So we get this mystery box and then we go to Magnus's. Should be easy" said Chace more to himself than to his companions. Alec even brought Clary's necklace along with him just in case.

"Magnus is a warlock right?" Lindsey asked who was still in the process of wrapping her head around everything.

"Yeah, he's great. You will love him" said Chace excitedly.

"Speaking of Magnus, have you talked to him about what happened?" Clary asked Chace.

"It's not a conversation I want to have with him over phone. We'll talk when we get there. I've already memorized a very heart touching apology" said Chace, sounding proud of himself. Alec couldn't help but roll his eyes. Also he didn't bother to tell Chace that Magnus had called him earlier to check up on how things were going with his 'adorable cub'. Alec may have let it slip that he was in for a surprise or rather shock. Magnus needed to stop spoiling Chace. End of discussion.

Needless to say, Alec was on high alert. He kept a watchful eye on their surroundings. It was no secret that he didn't like having Clary and Chace out on the street like this. Anything could happen. They could be attacked by Valentine's followers any time. The faster they got to Magnus's the better. But little did Alec know how right he was about them getting into trouble? And no matter what he did there was just no avoiding it.


End file.
